Braves Former 1st-Round Pitcher Quickly Emerging Among Best Prospects

Left-hander Cam Caminiti and right-hander Hurston Waldrep are the top-rated pitching prospects in the Atlanta Braves organization. But 21-year-old right-hander JR Ritchie is quickly rising the ranks to join them.

Behind a terrific start to the 2025 minor league season, Ritchie is now among the top 100 MLB prospects according to Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter.

The baseball analyst ranked Ritchie at No. 89 on his prospect list for June 2025.

"The Braves took three prep pitchers inside the top-60 picks in 2022. Owen Murphy (No. 20 overall) is recovering from Tommy John surgery and Cole Phillips (No. 57 overall) was traded to the Mariners, leaving JR Ritchie as the only one currently toeing the rubber in the Atlanta organization,"Reuter wrote. "The 21-year-old has a 1.92 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 58 strikeouts in 61 innings between High-A and Double-A."

Ritchie was one of two Braves prospects on Reuter's top 100 for June. Caminiti was higher than Ritchie at No. 79 overall.

That means, according to Reuter, Ritchie has actually passed Waldrep.

Reuter included Waldrep on his list of unranked players he called the "next 100." Waldrep made that list along with Braves' right-hander Didier Fuentes, right-hander Owen Murphy and shortstop Nacho Alvarez Jr.

According to MLB.com, which doesn't update its rankings as often as Reuter and Bleacher Report, Ritchie was the No. 6 prospect in the Braves organization before the season began. Caminiti was No. 1, followed by Waldrep and Alvarez at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

Right-hander Drue Hackenberg was ranked at No. 4 while Murphy came in at No. 5 just ahead of Ritchie.

Waldrep and Alvarez already made their MLB debuts last season. They both struggled and haven't appeared with the Braves during 2025.

While Caminiti is ranked ahead of Ritchie, the right-hander is in Double-A while Caminiti, who is only 18 years old, has pitched at Single-A this season. In all likelihood, Ritchie will appear at the Major League level first.

On May 28, MLB.com's Joe Trezza called Ritchie the Braves' most intriguing prospect.

The Braves drafted Ritchie at No. 35 overall in the first round of the 2022 MLB Amateur Draft.