JR

Ritchie

Thomas was dealing with an intercostal strain and left off the Wild Card roster by Atlanta for their series against the Phillies. He, AJ Smith-Shawver and JR Ritchie are the new editions; while Dominic Smith, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Luke Williams have been taken off.

Ritchie’s final start of the season saw him allow seven hits and walks, and he struck out just two. The right-hander went 1-5 on the year with a 4.91 ERA, but there were positives moments for the 23-year-old, and assuming there aren’t drastic changes, there’s a decent chance he’ll be a rotation option for Atlanta in 2027. He’s more dynasty play than redraft next year, but the stuff is good enough that it could lead to a breakout next summer.

The run came on an Elly De La Cruz homer. Ritchie fell to 1-4 with a 4.79 ERA. He’s probably not in the Braves’ plans for next week’s Wild Card series, so he could make a traditional start against the Marlins on Sunday.

Ritchie dealt with a lot of chaos early in this game and was ineffective overall. In the first inning, he walked two batters and gave up a double but got out of that inning with just one run on the board because of a double play and Alex Bregman being thrown out trying to take an extra base. Then he let up a double to start the second, but wriggled out of that jam with two timely strikeouts. Solo home runs from Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman followed in the next two frames and a three-run rally in the fifth and Ritchie was yanked then and there. He now has a 5.03 ERA as a rookie and it would be difficult to see the Braves trusting him as part of their playoff staff. Before then, he could get another start against the Reds at home next week given all the uncertainty in Atlanta’s rotation.

Ritchie will come up to take Reynaldo Lopez’s spot on the roster and likely start on Wednesday against the Cubs. Ritchie has a 4.50 ERA and a 53/36 K/BB ratio across 58 innings with the Braves this season and would not be a recommended streaming option for this one.

Ritchie has compiled a serviceable 4.50 ERA and 53/36 K/BB ratio across 58 innings at the highest level this season. There isn’t really a spot for him with Atlanta after they picked up a couple arms at the trade deadline.

As expected, with Reynaldo López (knee) landing on the injured list, the Braves bring back Ritchie with the expectation that he’ll start on Sunday against the Nationals. The 23-year-old hurler has registered a 4.50 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and a 49/33 K/BB ratio across 54 innings in 13 appearances (seven starts) for the Braves this season.

Ritchie had been scheduled to start for Triple-A Gwinnett tonight, but he was scratched. With Sunday’s scheduled starter, Martín Pérez, instead pitching tonight, Ritchie tomorrow seems like the obvious move.

After a great MLB debut, it’s been a tough rookie season for Ritchie, who now has a 4.50 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 49/33 K/BB ratio in 54 MLB innings. There will likely need to be some pitch mix changes if he’s going to develop into a usable starter for the Braves at the MLB level.

Ritchie surrendered homers to Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the 8-3 loss. He’ll be unavailable for a few days after throwing 68 pitches tonight, so it seems pretty likely that he’ll be the pitcher sent down to make room for Martín Pérez on Wednesday.