Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker speaks during a baseball news conference Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals and Braves are scheduled to play Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Sunday in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This season has been riddled with injuries for the Atlanta Braves, leaving no one in the organization unscathed. However, some intriguing players are on the verge of returning from Tommy John surgery.
Most notably, Ian Anderson is set to start in a Florida Complex League game today. The 2021 postseason hero has been sidelined since August 2022 after surgery, but there’s optimism that the extended recovery time could be beneficial in the long run.
Ian Anderson isn’t the only one making a comeback. JR Ritchie, also recovering from Tommy John surgery, started for the Braves in the Florida Complex League yesterday. The 2022 35th overall pick is ranked the fourth-best prospect in Atlanta’s system by MLB Pipeline, behind AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, and Spencer Schwellenbach. Personally, I’d rank him sixth, behind Owen Murphy and Nacho Alvarez. Nonetheless, JR Ritchie is a prospect worth watching. He looked sharp yesterday, pitching a couple of scoreless innings with one strikeout and allowing just one hit.
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Ritchie has an impressive four-pitch arsenal, including a mid-90s fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup. Recovering from Tommy John surgery is challenging, but at just 20 years old, it’s far from career-ending. Hopefully, he can pick up where he left off before the injury and demonstrate why the Braves saw such potential in him when they drafted him out of high school.
