Braves Call Upon Top Right-Handed Prospect to Fill Rotation Gap

The Atlanta Braves have called upon another prospect to fill the gap on Thursday afternoon. JR Ritchie is being added to the 40-man roster and will take the mound to start the series finale against the Washington Nationals, sources close to Atlanta Braves on SI have said.

Didier Fuentes took the mound on Wednesday in the Braves' first attempt to give the rotation extra rest. However, he only lasted three innings, forcing the Braves to turn to Martin Pérez for a long-relief role. He had been penciled in to start on Thursday.

This was a possible scenario that was speculated on ahead of Wednesday night's game. The Braves ultimately had to pivot, but they have an option to turn to.

Ritchie has looked sharp for Triple-A Gwinnett so far this season. He owns a 0.99 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP and 28 strikeouts across 27 1/3 innings pitched.

He was in big league camp for all of spring training, building a case for a call-up. However, the Braves opted to give him the first month to refine himself further in Triple-A.

Ritchie brings a full arsenal of pitches to the table, including a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a cutter, a curveball, a changeup, a sweeper and a slider. The changeup is lethal at the knees and the curveball has made for a solid put-away pitch.

However, the fastball is where he believes the success begins with him.

“I think it really sets up the breaking stuff really nicely, and it feels good right now,” Ritchie said in an interview with Atlanta Braves on SI earlier this month.

How he goes about his business caught the attention of veterans on the Braves' pitching staff. Chris Sale has had the chance to work with him, both last season and during spring training, and the work ethic was what he highlighted first when giving his thoughts on the young right-hander.

"He wants to learn," Sale said during spring training. "He wants to be better. He wants to be a big leaguer. I said it last year, and even this year in spring, I said every time I went to Gwinnett, he was doing something. It was related to getting better at baseball and pitching. He was either in the weight room doing his workout routine or doing his shoulder stuff."

The Braves rallied from being down 4-1 early on Wednesday night to pick up an 8-6 win. First pitch on Thursday is set for 1:05 p.m.

For now, the plan for the weekend is that Grant Holmes will pitch on Friday, Bryce Elder will get the ball on Saturday and Chris Sale is penciled in for Sunday. Sale was initially scheduled for Friday, but he was moved to Sunday as part of the rotation shuffle following Fuentes’ call-up.

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