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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
JR exceeded expectations in his return to the mound and looks to build off of it with a fantastic 2025 year How Acquired
The Atlanta Braves drafted JR Ritchie in the 2022 MLB Draft with the #35 overall pick.
Preseason Report Card
2024 was a big season for JR as it was his return from Tommy John surgery that let him pitch in just four games and accumulating 13 innings back in 2023. It was not exactly known when he would return to baseball following the surgery however one thing remained - he had the arsenal that you could dream about in a big league rotation with a good fastball, curveball, and changeup and an absolutely dynamite slider especially when you consider his age.
What We Saw in 2024
It’s safe to say the Braves must have been absolutely thrilled with what they saw from JR Ritchie this season. With just 14 professional innings in 2022, and 13.1 innings in 2023, coming in to the season he was definitely a question mark but all of those questions were answered on the mound.
After three appearances down in Orlando, JR was promoted to the Augusta GreenJackets on July 12 and would really see his season take off. In his That first start JR was absolutely dynamite as he pitched five no-hit innings while walking just one and striking out seven.
Welcome back, JR Ritchie!The @Braves' No. 4 prospect tallies seven strikeouts over five no-hit innings in his first start of the year for the Single-A @GreenJackets. pic.twitter.com/Ru8MJSdqZV— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 13, 2024
Typically when pitchers return from Tommy John the control is one of the last things to come back but that was not the case as he had just a 2.78 BB/9 rate for the Augusta GreenJackets.
After limiting Low-A hitters to a .197/.277/.316 line and accumulating a 1.95 ERA, the Braves saw more than enough and promoted him to High-A Rome. At 39.2 innings pitched JR was already at his professional high for a season, but he would go on to appear in three games for the Rome Emperors and put together a 3.60 ERA, 7.20 K/9 rate while walking just 1.80 per 9 innings.
2025 Outlook
There are huge expectations for JR as he will enter the 2025 season completely healthy and looking to build off of some really great appearances. The biggest thing for him will be to stay healthy for a majority of the season and avoid significant injury - should he do so, it’s safe to assume JR will find himself in Mississippi by the middle of the season with a chance to be in Triple-A by 2026 with a chance to make a case for the majors sometime that year, if not the year after. It’s safe to say there might not be anyone looking forward to the 2025 season as much as him as he looks to regain the traction that made him one of the top prep arms available in the 2022 draft.
<img alt="MLB: MLB-Draft" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bnfRVdAP8ZdTI824M2iAdYoRB10=/0x0:4109x2739/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73727386/usa_today_18711209.0.jpg">
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
JR exceeded expectations in his return to the mound and looks to build off of it with a fantastic 2025 year How Acquired
The Atlanta Braves drafted JR Ritchie in the 2022 MLB Draft with the #35 overall pick.
Preseason Report Card
2024 was a big season for JR as it was his return from Tommy John surgery that let him pitch in just four games and accumulating 13 innings back in 2023. It was not exactly known when he would return to baseball following the surgery however one thing remained - he had the arsenal that you could dream about in a big league rotation with a good fastball, curveball, and changeup and an absolutely dynamite slider especially when you consider his age.
What We Saw in 2024
It’s safe to say the Braves must have been absolutely thrilled with what they saw from JR Ritchie this season. With just 14 professional innings in 2022, and 13.1 innings in 2023, coming in to the season he was definitely a question mark but all of those questions were answered on the mound.
After three appearances down in Orlando, JR was promoted to the Augusta GreenJackets on July 12 and would really see his season take off. In his That first start JR was absolutely dynamite as he pitched five no-hit innings while walking just one and striking out seven.
Welcome back, JR Ritchie!The @Braves' No. 4 prospect tallies seven strikeouts over five no-hit innings in his first start of the year for the Single-A @GreenJackets. pic.twitter.com/Ru8MJSdqZV— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 13, 2024
Typically when pitchers return from Tommy John the control is one of the last things to come back but that was not the case as he had just a 2.78 BB/9 rate for the Augusta GreenJackets.
After limiting Low-A hitters to a .197/.277/.316 line and accumulating a 1.95 ERA, the Braves saw more than enough and promoted him to High-A Rome. At 39.2 innings pitched JR was already at his professional high for a season, but he would go on to appear in three games for the Rome Emperors and put together a 3.60 ERA, 7.20 K/9 rate while walking just 1.80 per 9 innings.
2025 Outlook
There are huge expectations for JR as he will enter the 2025 season completely healthy and looking to build off of some really great appearances. The biggest thing for him will be to stay healthy for a majority of the season and avoid significant injury - should he do so, it’s safe to assume JR will find himself in Mississippi by the middle of the season with a chance to be in Triple-A by 2026 with a chance to make a case for the majors sometime that year, if not the year after. It’s safe to say there might not be anyone looking forward to the 2025 season as much as him as he looks to regain the traction that made him one of the top prep arms available in the 2022 draft.
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