Brett Davis-Imagn Photos
Austin Riley was comparatively uncooked when our 2017 Atlanta Braves High Prospects record was printed in February of that yr. Six weeks in need of his twentieth birthday, he was coming off of a Low-A season during which he logged 20 house runs and a 124 wRC+, but additionally fanned 147 instances. With lingering issues about each his contact profile and conditioning, Eric Longenhagen conservatively ranked Riley no. 28 in a then-strong Atlanta system.
Riley has clearly gone on to have a extremely profitable profession. Since debuting with the Braves in Could 2019, Riley has put up a 124 wRC+ and 19.9 WAR throughout components of seven seasons, slugged 30-plus homers in three totally different years, and made a pair of All-Star groups. A mainstay in the midst of Atlanta’s lineup, the Forty first-overall choose within the 2015 draft out Southaven, Mississippi’s DeSoto Central Excessive College has developed into one of many senior circuit’s high sluggers.
What did Riley’s 2017 FanGraphs scouting report appear to be? Furthermore, what does he give it some thought all these years later? Wanting to seek out out I shared a few of what our lead prospect analyst wrote and requested Riley to answer it.
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“Riley started the yr scuffling with any form of velocity after which improved the timing of his footwork, quieted his arms and began hitting. Late within the yr, he was turning on plus velocity.”
“Very correct,” Riley mentioned. “Popping out of highschool, I hadn’t seen velo quite a bit, and I type of had quite a bit happening with my swing. I wanted to make some changes. Being an even bigger man, an influence man, it was type of, ‘All I’ve to do is contact the ball, get a barrel to the ball.’ It was certainly one of my first steps in studying shorten the whole lot up and simply get a barrel to it. From there, good issues occur.”
“He has plus uncooked energy (no less than) and has improved his physique composition since highschool (when he was a heavy 230). However at simply 19, with some basic stiffness to his actions, Riley is fairly more likely to kick over to first base as he matures.”
“Not going to occur,” the sculpted third sacker opined. “However yeah, I’ve talked a little bit bit about it. My weight-reduction plan wasn’t the very best. I used to be principally a school man and appreciated to have my enjoyable within the offseason; I didn’t care for my physique like I ought to have. Being an even bigger man at third you’ve to have the ability to transfer some, and I positively realized some classes from that.”
“The changes he made final yr have been encouraging, however studies from late within the yr point out some vulnerability on the outer half.”
“Outer half of the plate, proper?” Riley replied. “I feel loads of that in all probability stemmed from the offspeed stuff. I had a ton of strikeouts on that. Lots of it, like (the report) mentioned, was simply attempting to catch as much as velo (with a) lengthy swing. It was a problem to get to the fastball and likewise react to the offspeed. I nonetheless swing at it every so often, but it surely’s gotten a little bit higher.”
“He was as much as 94 on the mound in highschool.”
“Not many groups wished me as a place participant,” Riley recalled. “Extra individuals within the draft wished me as a pitcher. However I simply liked to hit — hit and play daily. I took an opportunity on myself. If I used to be going to do that — make a profession out of (baseball) — I wished to do one thing I wished to do. My arm damage on a regular basis after I was pitching. It was by no means enjoyable after I pitched, and I wished to do one thing enjoyable. I ended up backing out of the draft as a pitcher and simply getting in as a place participant. I let individuals know, ‘Hey, when you’re going to draft me as a pitcher, I’m going to go to Mississippi State.’ I advised them that I simply wished to play the infield and hit.
“I might be improper, as a result of it’s so way back and type of blurry, however I wish to say it was Kansas Metropolis, the Brewers, and perhaps the Cubs (who particularly appreciated him on the mound). The Braves actually appreciated me as a hitter. Whereas most groups didn’t need me as a hitter, they did. I appreciated that.”
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Earlier “Outdated Scouting Experiences Revisited” interviews will be discovered by way of these hyperlinks: Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Kyle Freeland, Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Matthew Liberatore, Sean Newcomb, Bailey Ober, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien.
