00:00Yeah, so my final two are going to be two of the highest floor arms
00:02in the minor leagues right now, and both guys that I think
00:04are going to get some runway here to make an impact,
00:07and they're both in the National League.
00:08I'll start with J.R. Ritchie.
00:10J.R. Ritchie, for me, look, it's been really frustrating
00:13for the Braves right now with the health issues that they've had
00:16with their starting pitchers, and look, you look at the rotation now even,
00:20and you're like, man, I even hope who's in there right now
00:22is going to hold up, but I see a very clear spot
00:25for Ritchie to potentially take, and I know Didier Fuentes
00:28is already on the 40, and he's been fantastic this spring.
00:31I still want to see a third pitch a little bit more.
00:33With J.R. Ritchie, you don't have to worry about a third pitch.
00:36If you were to nitpick and say he needs to add a pitch,
00:38you would be saying that he needs to add a seventh pitch
00:40because he goes four-seamer, sinker, change-up, cutter, curveball, sweeper,
00:45and they're all competitive pitches.
00:48Maybe nothing jumps off the page as that 70-grade pitch,
00:51but that fastball, all of a sudden, the further he's been removed
00:54from Tommy John surgery, has been closer to A-plus heater
00:58with sneaky run and ride.
00:59He executes so well, east, west, north, south.
01:02He uses his stuff working in different directions
01:05to all four quadrants so, so well.
01:07I think the command is a lot better than the walk rate would imply,
01:11and we're going to continue to see that.
01:12He has been dominant this spring.
01:14He's coming off of four no-hit innings
01:16where the only base runner was a hit-by-pitch
01:18against the Phillies, and he struck out six.
01:20And I look at that rotation, and I say, Bryce Elder or J.R. Ritchie?
01:26J.R. Ritchie finished the year last year dominating AAA.
01:29We've seen guys struggle with that AAA ball.
01:32He did not.
01:33He pitched to a 3.02 ERA, but it was really one bad start
01:37that inflated that.
01:38Most of his starts were shutout, dominant, really impressive.
01:41I think we're going to see Ritchie up there early for the Braves,
01:44and I think he's going to be playing a big part in their success
01:47if they're going to keep that rotation afloat
01:49outside of the obvious studs at the top.
01:52I'm curious of your projection for J.R. Ritchie in 2026.
01:57I'm curious if you might compare it to what Grant Holmes did last year,
02:01115 innings, 123 strikeouts, a 3-9-9 ERA.
02:06So if you were to take that 3-9-9 ERA, 115 innings, 123 strikeouts,
02:12would you go over or under on those three lines?
02:14He threw 143 innings last year in his first full season back from TJ.
02:19I think he can easily, if they get him up quick enough, throw 150-plus.
02:24I think he's going to be right around that high 3s to low 4s ERA spot.
02:29I think he's going to strike out more than a batter per nine.
02:32So I'm going to put him above most of those figures
02:36and then probably right there in the ERA department.
02:38So we're taking a push on the ERA over on innings
02:41and over on strikeouts.
02:42It's like, this is a guy in fantasy baseball circles
02:44that is likely not going to get drafted by anybody.
02:46But if he can provide you 150 innings, this is an absolute no-brainer, right?
02:52No-brainer.
02:52And I guess my only concern would be how much do the Braves love Bryce Elder?
02:58How much do the Braves love Grant Holmes?
03:00Like, I'm a fan of Grant Holmes.
03:02Bryce Elder can pitch.
03:04And he has displayed solid outings before, but is that truly the guy?
03:11We've got about 30 seconds left.
03:12If you were to rank them based on talent, how would you rank the three?
03:16I think Richie's just much more talented.
03:19Holmes is an effective guy to plug and play,
03:22but I think we kind of know what Bryce Elder is at this point.
03:25And I think the Braves are going to want to find out and play to more upside
03:28to see what they may have in a J.R. Ritchie,
03:30which could be a guy that's closer to a strong four
03:33compared to an Elder who's, you know, a borderline five.
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