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Austin Riley Appears Healthy After Recent Injury Scare

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Abbie Clavijo | Last updated Mar 15, 2025 6:43 PM ET

Last August Braves infielder Austin Riley was hit by a pitch that broke his hand and ended his season. In a Grapefruit League game on March 14 Riley was hit by a pitch in the hand he had previously broken and was removed from the game in the top of the second inning after it was clear he was in pain.

Though he was taken out as a precaution it was concerning to see because the Braves are a team working on recovering from multiple injuries that plagued many of their starters last season.

After being unable to play at the end of the 2024 season Riley has had an excellent spring. He’s batting .308 with an .879 OPS. It was expected that he’d make an appearance in the Opening Day lineup before his injury scare on March 14.

Now it is looking like Riley is healthy and returning to play much sooner than expected. After his injury last August he had batting gloves with extra padding made for him by Mizuno which may have helped him this time.

Mark Bowman posted on X that Riley was seen in the cages hitting at batting practice early on March 15. He appeared to be in no pain, crushing pitches far out passed the wall in centerfield.

Austin Riley’s hand is fine. I can’t say the same about any cars that might have been parked beyond those red umbrellas during BP today. He crushed a couple out there pic.twitter.com/zM36GCzN7L
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 15, 2025

After his performance at BP Riley was penciled into the lineup for the Braves’ matchup against the Twins. The quick return for Riley is promising for a team like the Braves. They are recovering well and looking their best for Opening Day.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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