Braves star prospect set to undergo Tommy John surgery: What it means

The Braves No. 3 wide imaginable JR Ritchie is undergoing Tommy John surgery, but what does that mean for Atlanta and nan improvement of nan 19-year-old?

The number of pitching injuries for nan Atlanta Braves is getting absurd astatine this point. Max Fried and Kyle Wright stay retired for different period (at least), Ian Anderson has already undergone Tommy John surgery, and galore others person seen their stock of clip connected nan IL arsenic well.

And apparently nan wounded bug is now spreading to nan little levels of nan organization. Even worse, it’s now deed 1 of nan club’s apical prospects, 19-year-old JR Ritchie.

The Braves selected Ritchie 35th wide successful nan 2022 MLB Draft and MLB Pipeline has nan young right-handed pitcher classed arsenic nan No. 3 wide imaginable successful Atlanta’s workplace strategy down Jared Shuster and his chap draftmate Owen Murphy. But connected Wednesday, Geoff Pontes of Baseball America reported that Ritchie will acquisition Tommy John surgery, which evidently ends his 2023 play but will support him retired for nan 2024 play apt arsenic well.

Braves No. 3 imaginable JR Ritchie undergoing Tommy John surgery: What it means

While nan room for Ritchie does consciousness for illustration piling it connected fixed nan business pinch Braves injuries to pitcher this year, nan semipermanent outlook for nan young hurler should not beryllium a antagonistic one, moreover pinch 1.5 years being connected nan support and recovering.

Ritchie won’t move 20 years aged until precocious June this twelvemonth and has already shown immoderate awesome worldly successful Single-A, notably posting a 1.05 WHIP successful 4 outings this twelvemonth pinch Augusta. He’s young capable that he should person each opportunity to retrieve and past bounce backmost to a awesome convention career. Moreover, nan truth that nan scheme is to springiness him ample clip to retrieve useful successful his favour arsenic well.

This business is really not dissimilar to nan aforementioned Max Fried, who had Tommy John room during his age-20 play successful nan insignificant leagues, was fixed plentifulness of runway to get patient again, and has evidently gone connected to bask immense occurrence for nan Braves since.

That, of course, isn’t a guarantee that JR Ritchie will spell connected to go a Fried-like beingness successful Atlanta, but it is to opportunity that nan Braves do person a smally established way grounds of young, highly-ranked prospects undergoing nan superior room and ending up having fruitful careers.

So yes, it’s not perfect that nan 19-year-old Ritchie will beryllium retired until 2025. At nan aforesaid time, however, it decidedly shouldn’t diminish nan wide optimistic outlook connected him arsenic a imaginable fixed each of nan factors astatine play.