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

When the Braves had injury issues with their rotation at the start of Spring Training this year, it seemed surprising that JR Ritchie wasn’t being given a long look. He did his part, posting a 2.25 ERA with 14 K’s over 12 innings in the spring, but then was sent down to Triple-A.

Braves fans didn’t have to wait too long to see their No. 2 prospect (No. 79 on the Top 100) in the big leagues. The need arose this week and Ritchie was called up to make his debut on Thursday in Washington against the Nationals.

The 22-year-old right-hander made it abundantly clear he was ready for the assignment, posting a 0.99 ERA, .167 batting average against and more than a strikeout per inning over five starts with Gwinnett. The fact that he’s in the big leagues two months shy of his 23rd birthday might not seem that shocking given that he was drafted as a high schooler in 2022, but it’s impressive considering how much time he missed.

He could be a poster boy for Tommy John recovery and bounce-back. He had the elbow surgery in May of 2023, just a month into his first full season of pro ball. The rehab went smoothly, and he made it back to throw 49 2/3 solid innings in 2024, mostly with Single-A Augusta. The stuff was a little light, but he showed an advanced feel to pitch and the ability to get outs without a swing-and-miss arsenal.

Then in 2025, the gloves came off, the stuff came back, and he looked very much like the guy who was being mentioned as a first-round candidate coming out of the Pacific Northwest high school ranks four years ago, eventually landing with the Braves at No. 35 overall. The 2025 Futures Game starter struck out a batter per inning and held hitters to a .175 batting average. While he can run his fastball up to 97 mph, he’s not going to be a light-up-the-radar-gun guy. He’ll typically sit in the 93-94 mph range and throws both a four- and two-seamer, the latter of which helps his groundball rate (1.31 GO/AO in 2025; 1.24 so far this season).

After the heater, Ritchie has a full kitchen sink of secondary offerings to throw at hitters. He’ll throw his slider, curve and changeup with the same frequency, and his ability to mix his pitches will be the key to his continued success in the big leagues. All three are thrown in the low-80s, but don’t think that his two breaking balls run together. They are very distinct pitches, the slider coming with a lot of bite, and the other having more true curveball shape. He sells his changeup really well with arm speed, and all of them are capable of missing bats.

While his walk rate has been a little bit elevated this year (4.3 BB/9), Ritchie is at his best when he’s in and around the zone. With as many as six pitches to choose from, he’s adept at getting hitters to chase, but he has to command his arsenal better in order to get opponents to expand.

Now three years removed from Tommy John surgery, Ritchie has evolved into a workhorse, innings-eater type of starting pitcher. He was one of 16 pitchers in all of the Minor Leagues with 140 or more innings in 2025, and keep in mind that was really his first full healthy season of pro ball. There may not be a huge ceiling -- though he’s young enough to still improve both the sharpness of his stuff and his use of it -- but he at the very least has every opportunity to settle in as a No. 3 starter who takes the ball every five days and gives his team a chance to win every time out.