This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ATLANTA -- If you’re interested in becoming the president of the JR Ritchie Fan Club, be prepared to stand in line.
“You can ask my wife, I’ve been talking about Ritchie since last summer,” Braves ace Chris Sale said. “Every time I showed up [while rehabbing] in Gwinnett last year, he was doing something to get better at baseball. That’s always going to put some chips in my bag.”
Sale will be among the many folks excited to see Ritchie experience the thrill of making his next start against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. This is the stadium the Seattle-area native frequented throughout his childhood and visited as recently as this past October, when he was among those who stayed until the end of Seattle’s 15-inning win over the Tigers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series.
“That's pretty unbelievable,” Ritchie said. “I'd be lying if I said I had not thought about it. It's always one start at a time. I'm always focused on dealing with the team at hand. But yeah, it's definitely been in the back of my mind. Seattle has a very special place in my heart. It always will, just being from there. So I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ritchie has certainly earned the chance to make a third career start. The only question was whether the Braves might send him down to add more bullpen depth for this weekend’s series at Coors Field. But manager Walt Weiss quickly shot down that option when asked.
“I think you’ve got to be careful throwing away starters, especially young ones that pitch well,” Weiss said. “We’ll figure out the recipe for this road trip when we start off in Colorado. But yeah, [Ritchie] has certainly made a case for himself.”
There’s often reason to debate whether any player, especially a pitcher, could benefit from more seasoning at the Minor League level. But from a maturity and poise standpoint, Ritchie has proven he can more than capably handle himself in the Majors.
James Wood drilled Ritchie’s first career pitch into the seats at Nationals Park on April 23. The 22-year-old responded by allowing just one more run over seven innings. In Wednesday night’s win at Truist Park, he minimized damage and pitched out of trouble while allowing the Tigers just two runs, despite surrendering five hits and issuing four walks over 5 1/3 innings.
“I’ve talked about his composure a lot, that’s what sticks out to me,” Weiss said. “He looks pretty unflappable as a young kid in this league and that’s going to serve him as he puts together a career here.”
Ritchie’s maturity and early success are even more impressive given that you can argue this would be just his second full unrestricted season in pro ball. The 2022 first-round pick made four starts in 2023 before undergoing Tommy John surgery that limited him to 12 appearances (11 starts) in 2024. So, his first full season occurred last year, when he successfully rose from High-A to Triple-A.
Now, he finds himself with the opportunity to continue learning from Sale and the rest of the Braves veterans.
“[Sale] has been really great to me,” Ritchie said. “He’s been a really great mentor.”