MLB Pipeline released an early-season update of its Top 100 prospects list Tuesday, and one of the adjustments involved Braves third-base prospect Austin Riley.
He's now rated as baseball's No. 80 prospect, up 12 spots from No. 92 before the season, by MLB Pipeline, which is part of MLB.com.
But what jumped out about Riley in the report wasn’t the ranking; it was the assessment of how close he might be to big-league ready.
“His power has always been obvious, and now that he’s improving as a hitter and a defender, he might be ready for Atlanta by midseason,” MLB.com’s Jim Callis wrote.
Riley, 21, was promoted this week from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett. He hit .333 with six home runs, a .394 on-base percentage and a .677 slugging percentage in 99 at-bats at Mississippi this season. He went 1-for-5 with a single and three strikeouts in his first game at Gwinnett on Monday night and 2-for-4 with a single, a double, an RBI and no strikeouts in his second game there Tuesday night.
On MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, the Braves have eight representatives: Ronald Acuna at No. 2, Kyle Wright at No. 28, Mike Soroka at No. 29, Luiz Gohara at No. 47, Ian Anderson at No. 49, Kolby Allard at No. 56, Riley at No. 80 and Max Fried at No. 84. All except Acuna and Riley are pitchers. Three of the eight are currently on the big-league team: Acuna, Soroka and Gohara. Acuna is ranked behind only the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani.
RELATED: Read Gabe Burns’ report on Riley’s first game at Gwinnett.
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TODAY’S LEADOFF LINKS
> The Braves beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Tuesday night behind a long Acuna home run, six scoreless innings on two hits from Sean Newcomb and three scoreless innings from the bullpen. See David O'Brien's report here.
> The Hawks have wasted too many seasons and need to get this coaching hire right, Jeff Schultz writes.
> Atlanta United hosts Sporting KC, the best in the East versus the best in the West, on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. See Doug Roberson's story here.
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