By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Atlanta Braves are, unsurprisingly, leaning on youth to win ballgames during the first half of the season.

The young pitching that has been so highly touted for the past several years has shown up and produced, with Mike Soroka the undisputed ace of the team and Max Fried leading the squad in wins after nearly two months. That is to be expected, with the hype that surrounded those two and their fellow pitching prospects.

However, with all the focus and fanfare surround the young arms on the Braves and throughout their farm system, it’s easy to forget that there are some talented position players that have been waiting to get the call and make an impact in the big leagues.

After flat out decimating Triple A for more than a month, the Braves pulled the trigger and called up prospect Austin Riley to play left field, even though his natural position is third base.

That didn’t stop him from making an impact, homering in his debut and staying hot ever since, including a game tying bomb in the series finale against the Giants in San Francisco.

That home run was Riley’s FIFTH since his call up on May 15^th. He’s also hitting for a high average and has played solid defense in left in addition to a few starts at third base to spell veteran Josh Donaldson.

It’s been less than two weeks, but even with a small sample size, there is no way the Braves are sending Riley back to the minor leagues when Ender Inciarte is ready to come off the Injured List.

More than simply hitting well, Riley’s call up has reinvigorated a Braves team that had been embarrassed by Los Angeles the week before and squashed by St. Louis the night before. Atlanta has been tearing it up since the 22-year-old joined the team. The energy is high, and there’s certainly a correlation with Riley’s arrival, if not a direct causation.

While Riley’s and team’s success is an absolute good, it doesn’t bode so well for the Gold Glove centerfielder, Ender Enciarte, whose trip to the IL prompted the call up.

Inciarte has never set the world on fire with his bat and in fact is notorious for having slow starts every season before heating up during the second half; but he’s unmatched on the squad in center field.

Ronald Acuna, Jr. has slid over to man center in Ender’s absence, and while he’s faster and younger, he still hasn’t developed the defensive instincts that make Ender such an asset.

An outfield with Acuna in left, Ender in center, and stalwart Nick Markakis in right is a superior defensive outfield, no one will argue that. However, the dividends that Riley’s bat pays out may make it impossible for Brian Snitker to give Ender starts once he gets healthy.

Aside from spelling Donaldson at the hot corner, Riley is almost certainly going to be the starting left fielder for the Braves going forward, which Ender coming in as a defensive replacement late in games as long as he remains untraded.

Speaking of, that’s another feather the Braves have been able to add to their cap with Riley’s instant success. Ender will make an appealing trade piece. He’s a young veteran with a cheap contract that ends on a team option. Riley has given Atlanta the flexibility to flip Ender as part of a package for that constantly needed bullpen help.

Whatever happens, Austin Riley is leading the charge for Atlanta, and he’s here to stay.