929 The Game Atlanta Braves insider Joe Patrick joined Dukes & Bell and talked about the Braves sweeping the Cardinals and has Austin Riley been the Braves team MVP this season?
When asked if Riley has been the team’s most important player this year.
“I think that when you look at Austin Riley, it’s so important what he’s brought to the team this season because it’s desperately been needed. This Braves offense has been lackluster for the most part and Freddie Freeman has even been a player, who the Braves can normally count on for an extremely consistent year and he has not been that guy this year,” Patrick said. “Thankfully over the last month he’s been absolutely scorching hot so that’s been great to see but Austin Riley’s been one of those guys who has been able to provide a modicum of consistency over the course of the year.”
“He was obviously also a player that it was required of him to have this kind of year if the Braves wanted to have any chance of success considering everything that has happened to them. There are so many ways that this season could have gotten derailed at times and I think that we would have said it was derailed at times but Austin Riley has been that guy who has gotten that train back on the tracks for this team and been able to provide that. That’s just absolutely huge, can’t say enough about what that takes personally and mentality as well to be able to step in this team and do that for the first time in your career.”