First pitch HR? No prob! Braves prospect Ritchie shakes it off for historic debut win

WASHINGTON -- If you thought JR Ritchie was going to be undone after he surrendered a home run on the first pitch of his Major League career, then you might not have known how the 8-year-old version of himself reacted after the third pitch he ever threw for the Bainbridge (Wash.) Mavericks was lined back into his ribcage.

Ritchie cried as his father and other coaches surrounded him. But he refused to leave the game and ended up throwing four scoreless innings.

Some of the resolve that was seen that day was displayed yet again as Ritchie made his Major League debut on Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park. The heralded prospect didn’t cry after James Wood hit his first pitch into the right field seats. But he did buckle down and provide a strong seven-inning start that helped the Braves complete a 6-1 road trip with a 7-2 win over the Nationals.

“One pitch into it, I was kind of like, ‘Oh no,’” Ritchie said. “But after that, I bounced back really well. I stayed with my gameplan. I was really happy about that. Yeah, this will always be a very, very special day for me.”

Ritchie, who ranks as MLB’s No. 79 prospect and the Braves’ No. 2 prospect, was supposed to face the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Thursday, but he certainly looked MLB-ready as he limited the Nationals to two runs and recorded seven strikeouts over seven innings.

• What to expect from Braves No. 2 prospect Ritchie in the big leagues

How impressive is this line? Well, he’s the first Braves pitcher to record seven-plus strikeouts and allow two runs or fewer while notching at least seven innings in a MLB debut. If you take the strikeouts out of the equation, he joins Matt Wisler (2015), Horacio Ramirez (2003), David Nied (1992) and Paul Murak (1990) as the franchise’s only pitchers to allow two runs or fewer over at least seven innings in a MLB debut since 1990.

“His makeup is really impressive,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “That’s got to shake you up when the first pitch you throw in the big leagues is hit for a homer. But he was right back on the mound and attacking with all of his stuff. It was really an impressive performance.”

Making Ritchie’s effort even more impressive is the fact he and his fiancee were baking a cake at his residence across from Triple-A Gwinnett’s stadium around 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday when he learned he was starting Thursday’s game. The late notice came when Thursday’s scheduled starter Martin Pérez was needed out of the bullpen Wednesday.

Ritchie had to pack his gear at the stadium, fight through traffic and get to Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, which is about an hour from his residence. Fortunately, he caught his flight and even had a chance to eat a slice of the banana cinnamon cake. He got to his Washington, D.C., hotel around 2 a.m. ET. His parents were still in the early part of their red-eye flight from Seattle at that time.

Along with looking like a big league pitcher, Ritchie got a taste of what it’s like to be backed by one of baseball’s most productive lineups. Consecutive doubles by Matt Olson and Austin Riley led to two runs in the fourth, followed up by a sac fly from Ozzie Albies and a single from Michael Harris II. The Braves pulled away during a four-run seventh that included Albies’ two-run single and Harris’ RBI double. Harris exited in the bottom half of the inning with left quad tightness.

Ritchie showed composure when Wood hit a center-cut, 93.5 mph fastball into the right field seats. After allowing the Nationals right fielder’s 10th homer, the 22-year-old hurler retired the next three batters he faced. A botched steal of home helped him escape a second-inning threat. But he got better as the day progressed.

CJ Abrams’ one-out homer in the fourth accounted for the only other run allowed by Ritchie, who was the Braves' first-round pick (35th overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft.

“He looked phenomenal,” Harris said. “He was making all the right pitches. He was dotting a lot of pitches, to where they thought they were balls and they were actually strikes. He looked really good.”

So, will Ritchie stay within Atlanta’s rotation? There are some concerns about Reynaldo López, whose one inning effort on Tuesday created the domino effect that led to Ritchie getting an impromptu call to the Majors. There’s also a possibility of using a six-man rotation. But the Braves want to make sure they are properly stocked in their bullpen.

“We're going to have some conversations,” Weiss said. “The kid did a heck of a job. He made a great case for himself to be a part of this moving forward.”