Saturday seeds: Ritchie impresses, Baldwin locked in Rookie of the Year battle

Here's some of the news and notes you might have missed from this week

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Ritchie’s pushing for a MLB debut

As we’ve discussed before, the Braves are facing a 40-man roster crunch this winter.

Atlanta currently has just 38 players on the 40-man roster. Sounds good, obviously, but they also have six more players on the 60-day IL that need to be returned to the roster after the season concludes and somewhere between three and five prospects that need to be protected from this winter’s Rule 5 draft by being given a 40-man roster spot.

That roster crunch is one of the only things preventing the Braves from giving a start down the stretch to JR Ritchie.

The former first-round pick (2022, 35th overall) is currently carrying a 7-4 record and 2.58 ERA across three levels of the minors this season, having struck out 104 in his 108.1 innings of work. But it’s what he has done in Gwinnett that’s the most impressive: a 2-0 record and 3.21 ERA in his first five starts at the level, including six scoreless innings against Louisville on Thursday.

Having just recently cleared one year back on the mound after his 2023 Tommy John surgery, Ritchie’s dominating the minor leagues with a “kitchen sink” mix - he’s throwing all three fastball variations, as well as a changeup, a slider, and a curveball.

Despite the success, though, there are clearly some areas to focus on improving this offseason. His velocity on the fastballs sits in the low 90s, averaging 93.2 on the sinker and 93.7 on the four-seamer. While his curveball has a great whiff rate of 26.7%, it’s also allowed a .313 average and .688 slug in Gwinnett so far this summer. Righties are flashing their power against him, with a .510 slug and four of the five homers he’s allowed on the season coming against same-handed batters.

But despite the development keys ahead of him, he’s still one of the top prospects in the organization, per our Braves Prospect Composite. While the rotation for next season looks to be full with veterans returning from injury and the emergence of Hurston Waldrep, the Braves usually end up using something between ten and thirteen starters each season, so he’ll likely be called upon to make his debut in 2026.

Don’t be mad that they’re trying to win

If you spend any time on X/Twitter, then you surely realize that Atlanta’s two remaining BBWAA beat writers are sometimes grumpy and/or overly sarcastic on social media.

David O’Brien of The Athletic had it out with several fans on Friday afternoon, many of whom were frustrated that young phenom Drake Baldwin has started just twice in the last four games. Baldwin’s locked in a tight battle with Isaac Collins for Rookie of the Year in the National League, with several sportsbooks (including our preferred odds provider, FanDuel) now pushing Collins (-135) ahead of Baldwin (+115).

But as O’Brien tried to explain to frustrated fans who exclaimed that “the season is over” and all Atlanta had to play for was the additional draft pick that comes with winning Rookie of the Year under MLB’s Prospect Promotion Incentive program, that’s not how the players or manager Brian Snitker sees things.

To put it simply: They’re ballplayers, so they want to play. And they’re competitors, so they want to win.

Much to the chagrin of a very vocal minority of Braves fans, Atlanta is setting their lineup on a nightly basis to win as many games as possible. Marcell Ozuna, who has mostly reclaimed his designated hitter role after hitting .277 with a .660 slug and six homers in the last 15 games, is in the lineup on almost an everyday basis.

And whether or not fans realize it, Baldwin IS playing a lot. The rookie has 41 at-bats in the month of August, having started nine of the team’s thirteen games in the month. That’s one day off every four games, pretty standard for most catchers across the league. Baldwin played in 88 of the team’s 122 games, starting 66 of them. He’s playing enough to win or lose Rookie of the Year based on his production, not his appearances.

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A roster decision to make sometime soon

The Braves are expected to return Austin Riley from the injured list sometime early next week and potentially in time for Monday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox. The corresponding move there is obvious - Nacho Alvarez Jr. will return to Gwinnett, where he was getting some work in at second base prior to this most recent call-up.

But soon after that, Chris Sale will be returning. The veteran makes his second rehab start for his rib fracture on Sunday for Gwinnett, and depending on how deep he goes into that start (he went two innings and 40 pitches last Tuesday), he might need only one more rehab start before being activated.

And at that point, Atlanta will need to make a tough decision - who goes to give Sale a roster spot? Spencer Strider’s not getting optioned, and based on the way he’s pitched through his first three appearances, neither is Hurston Waldrep. Joey Wentz has a 2.83 ERA in Atlanta through his first five starts (and no minor league options), so he’s likely safe, as well.

So, there are three directions Atlanta can go here: Reinstitute the six-man rotation, option Bryce Elder to Gwinnett, or decide on either putting Erick Fedde in the bullpen or designating him for assignment.

With the way the organization has prioritized depth under Alex Anthopoulos, it feels like the Braves will keep Fedde and send Elder back to Gwinnett. It’s worth pointing out, however, that he is just a few days in the minors away from officially using another option year this season, meaning that 2026 is the final year the Braves have the flexibility to move him back and forth between AAA and MLB.

We’ve seen the complications that having no options has caused on Atlanta’s bullpen in recent seasons - with very few optionable relievers, they’ve had to either risk losing someone by designating them for assignment or going without one of their top relievers for a stretch. Ask Dylan Lee, who was optioned to Gwinnett last August despite an ERA of 2.00 across 45 MLB innings, how that can impact a player’s confidence and routine. While Lee wasn’t bad upon returning, pitching to a 2.20 from mid-August through the end of the regular season, he didn’t appear to be the same player he was prior to getting optioned.