On the heels of an eye-opening Spring Training, JR Ritchie is carrying over his dominance to his second go-around at Triple-A.
The Braves' No. 2 prospect stood out once again in his fourth start this season for Gwinnett as he struck out five batters across 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-1 win over Nashville on Sunday at Gwinnett Field.
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The right-hander limited the damage to just two hits and three walks, with his only trouble coming in the second inning when he loaded the bases with one out. But from there on out, Ritchie retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.
Making the outing all the more impressive is the fact that MLB's No. 83 prospect was starting for the second time of the week against the Sounds -- after previously holding them to one hit over seven innings with seven K's on Tuesday. Despite seeing him five days earlier, they still couldn't figure him out.
Through 21 1/3 innings this season, Ritchie has limited opponents to three runs on 12 hits with 20 strikeouts to 10 walks (plus three hit batters). That's good for a 1.27 ERA and .169 average against.
The 35th overall pick in 2022 is closing in on his Major League debut after a meteoric rise last season. In his first year free of restrictions from 2023 Tommy John surgery, Ritchie climbed from High-A to Triple-A and struck out 140 batters in 140 innings with a 2.64 ERA. Between 2025 and ‘26, he's made 15 starts for Gwinnett and has a 2.56 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 81 innings.
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During Spring Training -- when Ritchie compiled a 2.25 ERA with 14 K's in 12 innings -- Braves manager Walt Weiss addressed the possibility of the 22-year-old joining Atlanta sooner rather than later and mentioned that some players get called up out of necessity while others "knock down the door." It's still only April, but Ritchie sure is starting to knock loudly.
The Seattle-area native has looked even sharper this season as he's tweaked his six-pitch mix. Ritchie is leaning on his curve and especially his changeup more, while throwing his four-seamer, sinker and sweeper less. It's all in a small sample size, but his whiff rate is up (from 22.4 percent to 24.6 percent) and his hard-hit rate is down (37.3 percent to 29.7 percent).
The Braves rotation is on the mend with righties Spencer Strider (oblique) and Hurston Waldrep (elbow) on the 15-day injured list and righties Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) and AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John) on the 60-day IL. Fellow Top 100 prospect Didier Fuentes, who began the year in the Majors, is also in Gwinnett, but Ritchie is certainly pitching his way into the coversation soon.