Braves' JR Ritchie faces 'challenge' in debut vs. Nationals

Right-hander JR Ritchie, Atlanta's No. 2 prospect, will make his major league debut when the Braves conclude their four-game series against the host Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.

Ritchie, 22, was selected with the 35th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft. He is 3-1 with an 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings for Triple-A Gwinnett.

Thursday's originally scheduled starter for the Braves, Martin Perez, was called upon for three relief innings after Wednesday starter Didier Fuentes only made it through three innings of Atlanta's 8-6 victory.

Perez gave up two runs and three hits as the Braves won for the seventh time in eight games entering Thursday's matchup.

"I'm excited to see JR against this tough lineup," Braves manager Walt Weiss said. "It's going to be a challenge for him. [The lineup] is going to be very left-handed, I'm sure. But he's got weapons for that. He's a good one."

Ritchie will oppose Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA).

Cavalli, 27, was selected by Washington with the 22nd overall pick in 2020. He allowed three runs (one earned) in four innings of a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. The Nationals lost 7-6 in 12 innings.

Cavalli has not faced the Braves in his career.

Michael Harris II hit two home runs, and Matt Olson smacked a three-run shot to help Atlanta overcome an early three-run deficit on Wednesday.

Drake Baldwin homered for the second straight game for the Braves, who have earned at least a split of the four-game series.

"The offense continues to swing the bat," Weiss said. "Michael Harris is locked in, and we've seen it before. We've got some guys coming around. ... We did a nice job scoring runs and overcoming a rough first inning."

Olson has 14 home runs in 32 career games at Nationals Park.

Baldwin, who is batting .320 this season with 23 RBIs, joins Eddie Mathews (1959), Hank Aaron (1970), Rico Carty (1970) and Chipper Jones (1998) as the only Braves to collect 30-plus hits, 25-plus runs and 20-plus RBIs in the first 25 games of the season.

James Wood homered for the second straight game to boost his National League-leading total to nine for the season for Washington. Daylen Lile went deep for the third time in five games with a three-run homer, and Joey Wiemer had a pinch-hit solo shot.

"We don't need to change one thing at all," Lile said. "We're doing everything we can as hitters, and we're backing our pitchers up. As long as we're staying positive and just committing to our plan and staying true to ourselves, the wins are going to start rolling."

Washington is scoring runs at an impressive clip, but Nationals pitchers are not holding up their end. They have given up seven or more runs in five of the past seven games.

"Our pitchers are just as frustrated as anybody," manager Blake Butera said. "They know what our offense is doing. ... They want to go out there and limit it and let our offense do its thing and win some of these games that we should be winning."

--Field Level Media