On a day Braves can clinch playoff spot, rookie JR Ritchie gets the start
CHICAGO — JR Ritchie spent the last month at Triple-A Gwinnett, continuing to make starts for the Stripers, continuing to improve, continuing to wait for a possible return to the Braves.
He knew last week that possibility was gaining steam — his scheduled start Saturday was moved up a day to Friday. The Braves, on their end, didn’t publicly announce a starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game in Chicago against the Cubs.
On Sunday, Ritchie was told he was the probable starter for that Wednesday contest. On Monday, the decision became official. On Tuesday, Ritchie was on a plane headed to Illinois.
And as fate would have it, the 23-year-old who made his MLB debut April 23, and who has pitched in 14 games for the Braves this season, will take the mound on a day the Braves can clinch a postseason berth. They need a win Wednesday and for the Diamondbacks to lose to the Marlins or for the Padres to lose to the Rockies.
“At the end of the day, I want to play winning baseball and help this team compete for a postseason spot and hopefully help this team in the postseason at the end,” Ritchie said Tuesday at Wrigley Field. “Really excited to get going.”
Ritchie has pitched 58 innings for the Braves — from the time he debuted at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., an impressive showing in which he went seven innings and earned his first MLB win, until his last appearance Aug. 2, in which he went just four innings in a start at Truist Park against the Nationals.
In between the results were mixed.
Ritchie made two starts in June and allowed nine earned runs over 10 innings. In a relief appearance that preceded those outings, he shut out the Mets in five innings at Citi Field in New York.
The Braves used Ritchie five times out of the bullpen in July: in 4⅓ innings in St. Louis, he held the Cardinals to one run on one hit. Nine days later at Truist Park, the Padres tagged him for three runs on three hits and three walks.
Walks have been Ritchie’s downfall with the Braves this season. He has 53 of them, a little less than one an inning, and has only recorded one appearance (one inning July 18 against the Rangers) in which he didn’t issue a free pass.
“(Ritchie is) is very talented. It’s the pitch execution that needed some development. Strike throwing,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “But he’s made some changes down there (at Gwinnett), and that’s been much better. And he’s performed really well, you can see by the results that he’s had down there. So the stuff is legit. It’s just comes down to pitch execution.”
In Ritchie’s last seven starts with the Stripers, the right-hander had a 2.14 ERA and held the opposition to a .167 batting average. He struck out 44 batters in 33⅔ innings, and 24 of those Ks came via a 15-strikeout performance Sept. 6 and a nine-strikeout performance Friday.
Maybe most notably, Ritchie only walked two hitters in his last two starts combined.
“I think a lot of it was just trying to take mechanics out of it, just trying to be athletic, not really care what it looks like. Just throw the ball over the plate,” Ritchie said. “I think that’s been the biggest emphasis, is take the mental side out of it a little bit more and make it more a little external. I feel good. Ball’s coming out really good right now.”
On Wednesday, Ritchie will be opposed by Shota Imanaga (10-10, 3.88), the Cubs’ tough lefty who held the Braves to two runs over seven innings May 13 at Truist Park. The Cubs are also still fighting to secure a playoff berth and are just a half-game up on the Phillies for the No. 4 seed in the National League.
That won’t make Ritchie’s task any easier, but the rookie sounded confident in his ability to meet the challenge Wednesday and beyond.
“Really happy with where I’m at, physically, mentally,” he said. “Just excited to help the team win some games.”