Austin Riley named #6 3B prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline

Austin Riley is a player that quickly caught the eye of followers of the Braves farm system as he put on a show in the GCL and at Danville. After a slow start to his rookie campaign, the then 18-year old quickly stood among the league leaders in many offensive categories before being promoted to Danville where he did more of the same. While some teams before the 2015 draft saw him as a pitcher, the Braves saw potential in him at third base and in his bat, picked him with the 41st pick of the draft, and that foresight is paying dividends. He ended the 2015 campaign (60 games total) with 12 home runs, 40 RBIs, and a .304/.389/.544 stat line. He had his hiccups, in particular in the early goings on defense as well as whiffing his fair share, but he certainly has the look of a player on the rise in the Braves system.

As it turns out, mainstream prospect outlets have taken notice as well

.@Braves' Austin Riley (@austinriley1308) is #6 on our list of #MLB's Top 10 3B prospects: https://t.co/LVMUgQeiQ1 pic.twitter.com/jaNlJhnzHJ

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) January 26, 2016

Riley follows directly behind fellow 2015 draftee Ke'Bryan Hayes in the positional ranking by MLB PIpeline and it is certainly promising that he is already receiving notice despite just finishing his first season of rookie ball. With the expected graduations of players like Brandon Drury and Joey Gallo from the list, if Riley continues to perform well he will be a top 3 third base prospect in baseball sooner rather than later.

As for the present, the ranking does provide a significant amount of hope that Austin will be among the Top 100 prospects according to Pipeline, but even if he doesn't make the preseason list, based on his trend he will be soon enough.