Austin Riley's defense has been a topic of discussion among fans, with mixed opinions based on his performance since entering the league during the Statcast era. Analyzing his statistics per 1,000 innings at third base reveals a trajectory that fluctuates from below-average to average. While he demonstrated improvement in 2023, he could not maintain that level into 2024. Moreover, despite having months of positive defensive metrics, like his excellent April performance, Riley struggles to sustain such levels consistently, leaving uncertainty about his defensive capabilities long-term.
In short, we probably don't really know if Riley has turned any kind of defensive corner at this point. We know that he's not consistently, perpetually bad - he just doesn't sustain his decent defensive stretches for long enough.
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