“If We’re Healthy, No Statements Need to Be Made”: Austin Riley Sets “Quietly Confident” Tone for Braves.vc

After a 2024 season was ravaged by injuries to its biggest stars, the Atlanta Braves are arriving at 2025 Spring Training with a new, simple motto: “Just be healthy.”

ATLANTA — As the Atlanta Braves’ core players arrive at Spring Training, they are unified in their message: this year is about performance, not predictions.

First baseman Matt Olson offered no bold guarantees for the 2025 campaign, and third baseman Austin Riley stuck to that theme. But in just a few words, Riley said everything about the team’s mindset.

When asked by reporters about a “World Series or bust” mentality, Riley paused and summed up the team’s new theme.

“Just be healthy,” Riley told reporters. “If we can be healthy, I don’t think there’s any statements that need to be made.”

(via David O’Brien, The Athletic)

The translation is clear: The Braves know they have a World Series-caliber roster. After a 2024 season proved that the only thing that could derail them was health, the team is adopting a “show me, don’t tell” attitude, expressing a quiet confidence that their talent will speak for itself.

A 2024 Season Derailed by Injuries

That quiet confidence is born from the “ringer” the team went through in 2024. The injury bug hit early and never relented.

• Catcher Sean Murphy and ace Spencer Strider both hit the injured list in the first week of April. Strider will still be on the IL to begin the 2025 season.
• The bug then took superstars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies for significant time.
• Riley himself suffered a fractured hand on August 18 after being hit by a pitch, an injury that ended his season.

Despite the historic wave of injuries, the Braves still managed to clinch their seventh consecutive postseason appearance.

Riley Looks to Rebound

For Riley, the 2024 season was a personal struggle even before the injury. His OPS was roughly 100 points lower than his 2023 mark, and he finished with a .256 batting average, 19 home runs, and 56 RBI in 469 plate appearances.

His new “just be healthy” mantra is a clear signal that he expects a full-strength Braves roster—including himself—to return to its dominant form and prove they are still the team to beat in 2025.