Austin Riley is getting a scheduled night off.
The Atlanta Bravesthird baseman is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Washington Nationals, with Mauricio Dubon sliding in at the hot corner. The move comes one day after Atlanta dropped a series against the New York Mets, losing two of three at Citi Field.
The 29-year-old Riley was a non-factor during the Mets series, going 0-for-11. Going back to Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles, Riley's struggles expand even more, going 1-for-18 with 12 strikeouts and just one walk in his past five games. He scored no runs and drove in none.
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The slump is part of a broader trend. Riley enters Wednesday batting .212 with a .634 OPS, 12 home runs, 50 RBIs and 43 runs scored over 108 games that would mark a career low across the board, next to his .264 career average and a .805 career OPS.
Manager Walt Weiss has periodically shuffled Riley in the batting order and given him occasional rest this season, hoping a lighter workload sparks a turnaround. The two-time All-Star has shown signs of it, including a two-homer game against the Texas Rangers last month, but Wednesday's series stat line shows how far he has to climb.
Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed the move on X Wednesday.
Fortunately for Riley, the Braves have been able to manage the drop in performance by playing to a 63-45 record, good enough for first in the National League East. Still, the team will hope that another day off could get Riley right for the rest of the season as the Braves look to go on a deep postseason run.
