Several weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, the host asked an analyst about the struggle of Austin Riley. Riley plays third base for the Braves. So far this season, his OPS is below .700. Well, his OPS was over .700 last season. Moreover, from 2021 to 2023, he finished each season with an OPS over .800.
He did play well for the Braves for several seasons. It’s not fun to see a player’s struggle. Nonetheless, after listening to the show, I just thought about one question. In the Braves history, no one would ignore Chipper Jones, who spent 19 seasons in the majors (all with the Braves). He spent most of his time playing third base. He retired after the 2012 season. After he retired, which players had done a good job at third base for the Braves?
To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website. Also, to make things easier, let’s look at the stats from 2013 to 2025.
From 2013 to 2025, there were 4 players who played third base for the Braves and had at least 900 plate appearances. Austin Riley made his MLB debut in 2019. So far in his career, his OPS is over .800. From 2019 to 2025, Riley slashed .270/.334/.492 with 169 home runs and 483 RBI over 800+ games. In the first 7 seasons in his career, he had 850 hits.
Moreover, Johan Camargo made his MLB debut in 2017 in the Braves uniform. He played for Atlanta from 2017 to 2021. In those 5 seasons, he played 364 games, hitting .257/.315/.423 with 34 home runs and 144 RBI.
In addition, Chris Johnson was traded to the Braves before the 2013 season. He actually took the role as starting third baseman for the Braves following Chipper Jones’ retirement. He did a good job in his first season with the Braves, hitting .321/.358/.457 with 12 home runs and 68 RBI over 142 games. He finished the 2013 season with an OPS over .800. In 2014, he played 153 games, hitting .263/.292/.361 with 10 home runs and 58 RBI. In 2015, he played 56 games for the Braves before being traded to Cleveland in the summer. From 2013 to 2015, Johnson hit .283/.317/.396 with 24 home runs and 137 RBI.
Finally, Adonis Garcia played for the Braves from 2013 to 2015. In 244 games, he batted .267/.300/.414 with 29 home runs and 110 RBI.
As we can see, since Chipper Jones retired, Austin Riley is the one who has spent most time at third base for the Braves. Johan Camargo and Chris Johnson each played 300+ games for the Braves. Well, that’s no way close to Austin Riley. From 2019 to 2025, Riley’s performance was actually good. Nonetheless, so far this season, he hasn’t played well. In the second half of the 2026 season, let’s see if he can truly bounce back. Furthermore, Chipper Jones played 19 seasons for the Braves. Let’s see if Riley can reach 10 seasons with the Braves.
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