Ritchie's Debut: Braves Win, Rookie Shines

0:00On April 23rd, J.R. Ritchie made his big league debut a story for the books, kicking things off by serving up a homer on his very first pitch, too. Washington's James Wood, but the 22-year-old Ridey's chic it off quick, going seven strong innings and leading the Atlanta Braves to a 7-to-2 win over the Nationals. That's their eighth victory in nine games. Ritchie picked 35th in the 2022 draft, limited the NAS to just one more run after that rough start. He scattered five hits, fans seven, walked two, and hit 94.4 miles per hour on his fastball while mixing in curves, changeups, and sliders. Coming up from Triple Egg Winning, where he posted a near perfect 0.99 ERA in five starts. The kid had everyone buzzing. Braves, Skipper, Walt Weiss called him, loaded with weapons for both sides of the plate, totally in control, despite the shaky opener. Ritchie himself laughed it off later, saying he probably hate that first pitch for a year

1:03before turning it into a funny story. Meanwhile, Wood crushed a 93.5 fastball right down the middle, and CJ Abrams added a solo shot in the fourth. But Washington went quiet after that, no hits passed the fourth inning. Atlanta shuffled the roster, too, calling up Ritchie and Carlos Carrasco while dealing with injuries. Managers eyeing his next turn soon, but Ritchie definitely made his case. Braves heating up, and this Rookie's got the stuff to stick around. I-Cartee keep watching how it plays out. From around the league, powered by AI, this is MLB News Today. I'm Cory with the story.