No. 2 Braves Prospect Nets Most Underrated Vote From Front Office Exec

The Atlanta Braves' top right-handed prospect has been on the rise, and one exec out there thinks he should get more attention

JR Ritchie felt underrated by one front office executive | Joy Edwards | Columbus Clingstone

The Atlanta Braves might be known for their thin prospect talent pool. However, there is at least one vote of confidence for one of their prospects. In a vote for the most underrated prospect in the pipeline, JR Ritchie received a vote.

Votes were placed by more than 40 executives from nearly all 30 teams. Twenty-nine total players received at least one vote, with 10 of them garnering multiple votes. Cubs outfielder prospect Kane Kepley and Diamondbacks outfielder prospect Ryan Waldschmidt were the top vote-getters.

Underrated was defined in three ways: "Guys who aren’t on the Top 100 but could or should be, guys on the Top 100 who should be higher, or maybe even just players who aren’t appreciated enough."

Based on those critera, that vote could have meant simply that Ritchie wasn't ranked high enough in the Top 100 or he is underappreciated or both. Those two go hand-in-hand. He's without a doubt done what he can to get further recognition.

Apart from rising from High-A to Triple-A last season, he also was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Futures Game. Sure, the game was in Atlanta, but he still had to pitch well enough to get into that spot.

In 26 starts, he pitched to a 2.64 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a .175 batting average against in 140 innings pitched. Given that he was drafted out of high school, this was easily his highest innings count in a season yet. It also came a season after he had finished recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“That’s a big mental block for a lot of guys to get over,” Ritchie said ahead of his appearance in the Futures Game. “You can try to baby it and feel like, oh, I don’t want to hurt myself again. Just try to trust it and say, I got a new elbow; it’s good to go.” 

Toward the end of last season, he was added to the Top 100 prospects list for the first time. He's now ranked No. 86.

Next season, Ritchie is expected to make the jump at some point to the majors. It's presumed he'll make his first appearance in Spring Training as well. There are rotation spots available for the taking, so if he has a strong run through the Grapefruit League, like AJ Smith-Shawver did last year, he could potentially make the cut.

Naturally, the situation is somewhat different between the two prospects, Smith-Shawver had already seen action in the majors. There was some precedent to work with as well. Ritchie would have to sell that he's ready for his MLB debut at the jump.