The Atlanta Braves have a lot to think about when it comes to how to fill out their Opening Day rotation. In addition to yet another slew of injuries to start the year, the Braves have to account for an early schedule without an off day for the first 13 days of the season, as well as trying to preserve pitching depth. Depending on the choices made, they could solve one problem, but make another arguably worse. In short, the Braves' starting pitching situation is messy at best.
Complicating matters is how the arms are actually performing in spring training. Not only have roster frontrunners Bryce Elder and Martin Perez been inconsistent at best this spring, but the Braves also have to reckon with the fact that JR Ritchie has been awesome and looks very, very ready for his major league debut.
It's going to be hard for the Braves to justify keeping JR Ritchie off Opening Day roster
Before the keyboard warriors with a bunch of random numbers after their usernames begin writing angry emails, it is completely fair to be skeptical of spring training stats, and this is particularly true of pitcher stats. Not only are pitchers simply ahead of hitters this early on most of the time, but the level of competition in spring training can be suspect. One need only look at some of the lineups the Braves have been using, such as the one from Sunday against the Phillies, as evidence that the A-squads aren't exactly being used much yet.
However, Ritchie's dominance is getting hard to ignore. Ritchie laid waste to Philly over four scoreless innings with six strikeouts, and surprisingly, a good portion of his start was with real hitters like Bryson Stott and Trea Turner in the lineup. Sure, there were a couple of MiLB filler guys mixed in there as well, but Ritchie looked good against any and all comers as he has for most of the spring.
All told, Ritchie now sports a 2.25 ERA through four appearances this spring with 14 strikeouts in 12 innings of work. He had a rougher start on March 10, when he walked four of the five batters he had given free passes to this spring, but that has been about it in terms of negatives. Ritchie has a varied arsenal that, more often than not, has been above average or better, and he has seemed unfazed by all of the attention on him.
Unfortunately, the strong possibility remains that Ritchie won't break camp with the Braves. Neither Elder nor Perez has minor league options, and Ritchie is not yet on the 40-man roster, which could give an edge to the equally impressive this-spring Didier Fuentes. There are perfectly logical reasons to make that decision, but that doesn't mean it is going to be easy to convince anxious Braves fans why Ritchie is still in the minors when he is pretty clearly one of their five best available starters right now.