Braves' Austin Riley undergoes season-ending core surgery

The Atlanta Braves announced Thursday that third baseman Austin Riley has undergone core injury surgery, which will end his season, though he is expected to return for spring training 2026. He is already on the 10-day injured list. He’ll be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs his 40-man roster spot.

The club also announced its previously-reported claim of right-hander Cal Quantrill, with righty Dane Dunning optioned in a corresponding move. They also activated outfielder Jake Fraley, another waiver claim, and recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd. In corresponding moves for those two, they optioned right-hander Connor Seabold to Triple-A and placed infielder Luke Williams on the 10-day IL due to a strained left oblique, retroactive to Aug. 19.

In the short term, the Riley news isn’t a huge deal for Atlanta. They are playing out the string on a lost season. They are 58-69 and 9.5 games back of a playoff spot. As mentioned, Riley was already on the injured list, having landed there earlier this month due to an abdominal strain. Losing him for the rest of 2025 doesn’t mean much.

The more notable concern is the long term. This is the second straight year that Riley will finish on the injured list. In 2024, his last appearance was on Aug. 18, when he was hit on the hand by a pitch. He suffered a fracture and wasn’t able to return down the stretch.

From 2021 to 2023, Riley appeared in at least 159 games each season. He slashed a combined .286/.354/.525 for a 136 wRC+ over that time. FanGraphs credited him with at least 5.1 wins above replacement in each of those campaigns.

His contributions since then have been more modest. Last year, even before the hand fracture, he wasn’t at his best. He had a .256/.322/.461 line and 114 wRC+, still 14% above league average but not up to his previous standard. This year, he has twice gone on the injured list due to abdominal issues and has now gone under the knife. He will finish the year with a .260/.309/.428 line and a 103 wRC+.

Atlanta has seen several players struggle or get injured this year, which has naturally made the team worse. A lot of those players, including Riley, have been locked in by long-term extensions. That means the club can’t do much apart from hope that their guys bounce back and perform better going forward. Riley’s ten-year, $212M contract runs through 2033, so he’s still a considerable part of the club’s future. Ideally, getting over this issue and coming into 2026 healthy will get him back on track, though time will tell if it will come to pass or not.