Austin Riley showed his power in his major league debut May 15 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the short time since, the Braves rookie has exhibited more of that power.
Thursday in San Francisco, Riley homered again and then drove the winning run with a single in the 13th inning of the Braves' 5-4 win.
Here are five things about Riley’s hot bat:
• Riley is the third Braves player since 1920 to his five home runs in his first nine career games.
Evan Gattis hit four in his first eight games in 2013.
• With that homer in his second career at-bat, Riley became the eighth player in Atlanta franchise history to homer in his debut and the first since the aforementioned Gattis.
• Riley is the first player in Atlanta history to record at least eight hits through four career games, and the sixth in Braves franchise history in the last 111 years to do so.
• In his well-documented rise through Triple-A Riley smashed 15 homers in 37 games with Gwinnett. Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966 only one other player has tallied 15 or more homers in the season's first 38 games: Hank Aaron.
Aaron hit 16 homers across 38 games in 1970, and had 15 in 1966.
• The ballpark he's most excited to play in? From Braves' 20-question video (below) we learn that the 22-year-old Memphis native grew up an Albert Pujols fan during his Cardinals years and is eager to step up to the plate at St. Louis' Busch Stadium, where the Braves play Friday. Watch:
About the Author
