The Braves announced today that third baseman Austin Riley has undergone core injury surgery, which will end his season, though he is expected to return for spring training 2026. He is already on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs his 40-man roster spot.
The club also announced their previously-reported claim of right-hander Cal Quantrill, with righty Dane Dunning optioned in a corresponding move. They also activated outfielder Jake Fraley, another waiver claimee, and recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd. In corresponding moves for those two, they optioned right-hander Connor Seabold to Triple-A and placed infielder Luke Williams on the 10-day IL due to a strained left oblique, retroactive to August 19th.
In the short term, the Riley news isn’t a huge deal for Atlanta. They are playing out the string on a lost season. They are 58-69 and 9.5 games back of a playoff spot. As mentioned, Riley was already on the injured list, having landed there earlier this month due to an abdominal strain. Losing him for the rest of 2025 doesn’t mean much.
The more notable concern is the long term. This the second straight year that Riley will finish on the injured list. In 2024, his last appearance was August 18th, when he was hit on the hand by a pitch. He suffered a fracture and wasn’t able to return down the stretch.
From 2021 to 2023, Riley appeared in at least 159 games each season. He slashed a combined .286/.354/.525 for a 136 wRC+ over that time. FanGraphs credited him with at least 5.1 wins above replacement in each of those campaigns.
His contributions since then have been more modest. Last year, even before the hand fracture, he wasn’t at his best. He had a .256/.322/.461 line and 114 wRC+, still 14% above league average but not up to his previous standard. This year, he has twice gone on the injured list due to abdominal issues and has now gone under the knife. He will finish the year with a .260/.309/.428 line and a 103 wRC+.
Atlanta has seen a number of players struggle or get injured this year, which has naturally made the team worse. A lot of those players, including Riley, have been locked in by long-term extensions. That means the club can’t do much apart from hope that their guys bounce back and perform better going forward. Riley’s ten-year, $212MM contract runs through 2033, so he’s still a huge part of the club’s future. Ideally, getting over this issue and coming into 2026 healthy will get him back on track, though time will tell if will come to pass or not.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Fan of a division rival, but I hate to see this. Hope Riley can recapture his MVP-Candidate form next year.
I agree. As a Braves fan, I always want to beat the best competition on the field.
Atlanta’s season was rotten to the core.
At the beginning of the year, I sure that they would do better, but injuries hurt them and Strider still seems damaged.
Team has no depth organizationally.
Williams must have pulled his oblique pitching the 8th in the blowout Tuesday night. Tough to throw those 75 mph heaters and 65 mph eephus pitches. Get well soon Austin. Need him to be “normal Riley” next year. Really don’t want to watch Alvarez missing every fastball thrown to him again next season. Good glove, punch and judy swing and miss “hitter.” Trade him this winter. Please.
super talented, but 2 yrs in a row riley is rouintely hurt
braves are just full of injured players all the time now i dont get it
In 2024, Riley got hit in the hand w/a wild fastball thrown by an Angels rookie w/zero command. Totally not Riley’s fault. Hit by wild pitch doesn’t make him “routinely” injured.
How many injuries are really the injured persons fault?.no need to always assign blame its not a car accident.. bottom line some guys just have more unfortunate things happen to them than others and catch a label..injured is injured..any way you slice it And this is now 2 years in a row would it take a 3rd to make the label more appropriate?..who’s to say
Big difference between soft tissue injuries and hbp. Being hit by a wild pitch (thrown w/intent or not) is definitely the fault of somebody other than the injured person.
Either way..you rack up enough time in the trainers room and people stop keeping score of fault and you get a label..will see how it plays out for him..Hopefully he remains healthy after this regardless of how he got hurt
you are 100% wrong, people know who gets hurt all the time because their body breaks down compared to getting hit or run into a wall, etc
Adj…i diagree..im not 100% wrong..The point was it doesn’t matter how a player gets hurt if hw is hurt alot regardless of how it happens..he gets a label..sad but true..look at all the random injuries chris sale has had..most of which..guess what..not his fault but hes got a label now
Thats just a fact
July and August ’25 were one injury, from which he tried to return too soon. Other than that, he missed three weeks fin the last two years due to muscle tightness. Jeff’s right that the HBP shouldn’t count toward his “always injured” label. I’m pretty confident the teams don’t put any weight behind it, just fans who like to throw labels around.
Aside from the 3 weeks in May of 2024 the rest of missed time was due to an unfortunate HBP.
This season can be chalked up to a lingering core muscle issue. But trying to push a narrative of him having been injury prone least 2 years is wrong. The HBP is not his fault as you even stated, but then went on to still try and count that time missed(40% of the 5 months u mentioned). Trying to replace “prone” with “routinely” is being deceptive and you inadvertently are admitting hes not injury prone, so you try and allude to it by using routinely instead.
Since he had a broken bone in the hand last year, it was inevitable that Core surgery would be needed this year. One always follows the other. Based on a slew of other injury prone players, plantar fasciitis is likely in 2026!/s
@stymeedone: Your diagnosis is a relief. I was worried that brain surgery was next on the list.
Alibes is defensively above average, although he’s still struggling offensively. That may be due to lingering effects from last year’s injuries. He’s making peanuts, so he’s defintely part of the core, at least for now. And in case you haven’t noticed, Harris has totally turned his season around, and is one of the hottest hitters in baseball, to go along with his GG caliber defense.
One of the worst contracts in baseball.
Not even remotely close Lou.
Sorry you disagree. I hope you’re well.
No problem Lou. Not as well as I’d like. Rolled my ankle in a small pothole and took an ugly spill on my regular hour long morning walk this morning. Something totally undignified about falling face first into pavement before 7 am. Hobbled home, iced it, and watched an egg sized lump swell up on the outside of my right ankle as the day’s gone on. Helluva day, lol.
Oh no! You sure you weren’t drunk? Lol jk. Hope it heals fast. Tomorrow will be better.
Thanks Lou. Definitely not drunk. I haven’t had a drink since my 30th birthday—–39 years ago come September 8th. Second best decision I ever made—-first was quitting smoking.
That’s awesome! Kudos to you sir.
Just keep on keep wasting them being a disgusting ageism bigot. You’ve already got the “ignorant troll” schtick down pat.
@goats,
Oh yeah, when I was your age everything cost a nickel!
Learning from your elders isn’t a waste of your 20’s..
Riley’s deal is a bit over market right now but not one of the worst. Xander Bogaerts is still owed a fortune. Semien’s is an albatross. Burnes is coming off TJ owed a ton of money.
We’ll see how Trea Turner’s looks with him entering his age 33 season next year.
I don’t know about next season, but Trea Turner looked pretty fabulous batting 10 for 16 while the Phillies were kicking the snot out of the Mariners earlier this week.
Lol, these comments look odd after the troll being replied to is banned.
Is it mandatory to start your comment with “as a ____ fan”?
It would be funnier to start a comment with “As an ______ air conditioner”.
I’m here all week, please tip your bartenders and waitresses…
Dang, and after they picked up Cal Quantrill to go on their big run:(
That lack of a sense of humor must be restricting your ability to make friends or get a girl.
If the Braves printed their own money, I guess Riley would have to be on the $100 bill. SAD!
As a former police officer, I think Dunning is better than his numbers show. He has flashes and then not so much. I see him traded this off season and will be a long man out of the BP or someone’s 4 or 5 SP.
apple tv gnaws on a fat nodule