Braves pitching prospect JR Ritchie on minor league injured list

One of Atlanta's top draft picks last year is out with an "elbow injury" of unknown significance

One of Atlanta's first round picks in 2022 (#35 overall), prep pitcher JR Ritchie, is currently on the MiLB injured list with an elbow injury.  

JR Ritchie, one of last year's first-round picks, is currently on Low A Augusta's injured list with an elbow injury. The Braves say they are still evaluating the significance of the injury.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 21, 2023

According to MLB's Mark Bowman, the Braves have not yet determined and/or announced exactly what the injury is and the severity. If it's damage and/or a tear to the ulnar collateral ligament, Ritchie would be in for Tommy John surgery and would miss the next 15-18 months of game action. 

Ritchie last pitched on May 6th, leaving the game in the 4th after calling for the trainers soon after throwing two wild pitches that missed badly. 

His ERA this season was a step back from what he put up after the draft - last year, in five appearances combined between rookie bal and Low-A Augusta, Ritchie put up a 1.88 ERA in 14.1 innings with fourteen strikeouts to five walks, giving up one home run. This season, all for Augusta, Ritchie's four starts saw him go 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. The peripherals were much better - 25 strikeouts in 13.1 innings (16.9 K/9) to only three walks - but a blowup against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (3.1 innings, seven hits and six runs (five earned) colored the ERA and clouded the overall outlook of the improvements that Ritchie has made.

Obviously, being only 19 years old with a combined 27.2 innings of professional baseball under his belt, Ritchie wasn't going to impact the Braves at the major league level in 2023. And the Tommy John surgery by itself doesn't spell doom for his career like it used to - both Max Fried and Spencer Strider had the surgery, and it's estimated that about one-third of all pitchers will have the procedure in their careers. What this does do, however, is negatively impact Atlanta's available assets for the trade deadline. The belief is that Atlanta will need both a starting pitcher and a reliever - possibly multiple - and it's harder (but not impossible) to move a pitcher who is in the midst of rehab from Tommy John surgery. 

We'll continue to provide updates as they're available.  

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