I’m slowly leaning towards the idea that Riley is just a “good” player and not great. I don’t know if it’s him selling out for power or something else, but the K rate and whiff rate are bad, the BB rate is not good, his baserunning isn’t impressive, and his defense looks better than it actually is.
He also has been prone to major slumps this year, which he’s able to offset with torrid hot streaks. I’d just like to see the consistency in his at bats stick throughout most of a season even if it means he’s not hitting 30+ HRs.
He has regressed in a lot of categories on baseball savant YoY that is a bit concerning.