Hype Building for Two Young Atlanta Braves Pitchers

There was a time when his performance in Triple-A raised some doubts. He's been able to put that behind him, at least for now. With Spencer Schwellenbach going down long-term, it would be a surprise if he doesn't get his strong share of reps during spring training games.

His presence will be of growing importance if the Braves stick with the staff that they have (i.e., they don't sign someone). If they don't bring in external help, their next options will be the young arms. Fortunately for them, one of those young options got 10 appearances under his belt and stood tall.

They can put off having to throw a prospect into the fire. We got to see how well that worked out at times last season.

It's clear that he's going to have to see more of Ritchie. That's not a bad thing. That's just the reality of the situation. He could be impressed immediately and still need to see more.

There is being told about a prospect and how well he's done in Triple-A, maybe even seen the numbers. Then, there is how they look in big-league camp for the first time and how they fare against big-league bats. At the very least, the Braves have him in mind for the future.

"He's of those guys that's on our radar," Weiss said on Thursday.

If a prospect makes it to big-league camp, he's already part of the plans to an extent. The next step is to evaluate where he fits into the plans for the upcoming season. Ritchie has been seen as a pitcher who could make an impact this upcoming season. Weiss has wanted him and arms to be ready for that call.

"Everyone sitting in the room is going to have to help us at some point, more than likely," Weiss said. "That's just the nature of it."

Unlike other prospects, Ritchie has gotten a solid sample size built up in Triple-A. He was solid in that sample size, and if we see similar results in spring training, he'll be next in line.

Precedent indicates he likely won't break camp with the team. Who who have risen up to win over a rotation spot during spring training tend to have major league experience, such as Reynaldo Lopez and AJ Smith-Shawver. The latter had even pitched for the Braves in the postseason by that point.

Maybe with more looks, he's able to buck the trend. We're still a few weeks away from even knowing how close he is. By then, we may not even be having this discussion, or it could have unexpectedly heated up. We'll see, but the hype is already there for when he arrives.

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