Reasonable people can disagree as to which Atlanta Braves pitching prospect has the highest ceiling. Cam Caminiti is young, but his stuff from the left side is fun to dream about. If you were to have him as Atlanta's top pitching prospect overall, there is a real case for that. However, no one should be denying that JR Ritchie is also in the conversation and Braves fans could see him in the majors sooner than you think.
After a shortened 2024 season as he was still making his way back from Tommy John surgery, Ritchie has been a revelation down in the minor leagues for Atlanta. While his initial success after he was promoted to Triple-A after a quick ascension through the minors started the conversation as to when fans could see him in the big leagues, Ritchie's latest gem for Gwinnett might have earned him a surprise September call-up.
JR RITCHIE JUST TOSSED A CLINIC.
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 28, 2025
6.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 2 BB | 11 K pic.twitter.com/RrK5JDaGgm
JR Ritchie's gem at Triple-A should have the Braves strongly considering calling him up
If Ritchie's six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts was a one-off performance, than we wouldn't have much to discuss. The Braves aren't in contention and one really good game isn't a reason to call a kid up. However, the totality of Ritchie's season being capped off with such a start makes a really strong case to give Ritchie a taste of the major leagues in September so that he can get used to playing against big league hitters and prepare accordingly during the offseason.
In 22 starts this season, Ritchie has posted a 2.75 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 117.2 innings of work. While his previous start on August 21 went sideways on him, two of Ritchie's last three starts now have involved him going at least six innings and putting up zeroes in the runs column. For a kid with only seven starts at Triple-A under his belt and who is just 22 years old, that isn't too shabby.
For the Braves to make the move to call up Ritchie, they essentially need to be sure that they want him in their 2026 rotation. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense to start his clock at all yet. However, Atlanta is going to have a real shortage of starting pitchers at the beginning of 2026 with AJ Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes, and possibly Reynaldo Lopez unavailable to start. As deliberate as the Braves have been with Ritchie and his load management, don't be surprised if he is on the Braves' roster on September 1.