Things at the major league level aren't exactly going swimmingly to say the least for the Atlanta Braves. Thankfully, the organization does have a few intriguing arms that are making their way through the system. Last season, it was Spencer Schwellenbach who made a fast ascension through the farm system. Before that it was 20 year-old AJ Smith-Shawver.
Now, a couple more exciting arms are hoping to follow in their footsteps. Reports indicate pitchers Jhancarlos Lara and JR Ritchie have each earned promotions as of yesterday afternoon. Let's dive deep into both promotions right now.
Braves' young arms hoping to jumpstart their journey to Atlanta
Pitching prospect don't always pan out, so it's exciting to hear about a couple of arms who were deemed worthy of a promotion. The first we'll talk about is 21 year-old JR Ritchie. The soon to be Double-A Columbus Clingstone has been carving up High-A competition in 2025.
On the season, Ritchie sports a 1.30 ERA and has 38 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched. His latest outing was his best of his young career, a complete game shutout against Boston Red Sox High-A affiliate, the Greenville Drive.
Atlanta's sixth rated prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has slowly regained some velocity and command as he continues to distance himself from his 2023 surgery. Ritchie will need to harness the ability to throw strikes with some of his secondary offerings to find success in the upper levels of the minor leagues.
Emperor JR Ritchie, ruler of nine innings 👑
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 11, 2025
The @Braves prospect fans nine and allows just one knock in a shutout for @GoEmperors. pic.twitter.com/Ua1BlBXdff
Next we have the promotion of Atlanta's 11th ranked prospect Jhancarlos Lara. The flame-throwing righty was struggling in the rotation with Double-A Columbus to begin the season. Despite his electric fastball/slider combo, walks were a big problem for Lara early on this season.
As a result the organization decided to transition Lara into a bullpen role for the time being. One relief outing later, and Lara is reportedly heading to Triple-A Gwinnett. Lara's stuff simply plays much better out the bullpen right now, as he sat upper 90s to 100 mph in his lone relief outing this season.
The more encouraging thing from the reliever version of Lara was his ability to throw strikes. Should Lara continue to harness his command at Triple-A then he could prove to be a big weapon for the Major League bullpen at some point this summer. It's only mid-May, but keep an eye out for more results from these two pitchers as more positive results could earn them more good news very quickly.