Braves to call up No. 2 prospect Ritchie for MLB debut start vs. Nats

WASHINGTON -- As Braves No. 3 prospect Didier Fuentes struggled in the first inning of Wednesday night’s 8-6 win at Nationals Park, it became apparent the team’s No. 2 prospect was likely less than 24 hours from making his MLB debut.

Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed this when he announced JR Ritchie will start Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Nationals. The 22-year-old right-hander ranks as MLB Pipeline’s No. 79 prospect.

“I'm excited to see JR against this tough lineup,” Weiss said. “It’s going to be a challenge for him. [The lineup] is going to be very left-handed, I'm sure. But he's got weapons for that. He’s a good one.”

This has been a wacky week for the Braves’ rotation. Reynaldo López’s ugly one-inning effort in Tuesday’s loss to the Nationals depleted the bullpen and forced the Braves to shuffle their rotation plans.

Fuentes got to town at about 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday. So the Braves were already planning to use him in some role this week.

Weiss said the plan was to get Ritchie to town Wednesday night. But there weren’t necessarily any definitive plans for Ritchie to pitch on Thursday until a little after 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, when Fuentes was grueling through a 39-pitch first inning.

Fuentes’ struggles forced Thursday’s scheduled starter, Martín Pérez, to come out of the bullpen to work three innings on Wednesday.

Ritchie has posted a 0.99 ERA over five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He has allowed just one run over 23 2/3 innings in April.

“He showed really well in Spring Training,” Weiss said. “He's a talented kid. So I'm excited to see another one of our young arms.”