Austin Riley is really, really good at hitting baseballs a long way. It’s why the Braves took him 41st overall in 2015 (thank you Craig Kimbrel and BJ Upton). A big strong kid from Mississippi, the Braves convinced Austin to forego a commitment to Mississippi State with a slightly overslot deal of 1.6 million. Now considering the allotment for the 41st pick was $1,506,400, 1.6 doesn’t seem like that much extra. Riley wasn’t a huge reach, as he was fairly highly thought, but what you may not know is that Atlanta was one of very few teams that actually viewed Riley as a hitter.
Analyzing Austin Riley
