While perhaps not as impressive or exciting as a perfect game or no-hitter, “throwing a Maddux” (nine shut-out innings with less than 100 pitches) has become an extremely rare occurrence for a starting pitcher. Braves Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux, tallied 13 such performances during his MLB career. But so far in 2025, only one pitcher has pulled it off, when the Rangers Nathan Eovaldi needed 99 pitches to go the distance against the Reds back on April 1.
To provide a little perspective, that Maddux by Eovaldi last month was the first of its kind for Texas since Colby Lewis did it back in September of 2015, according to MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry. The bottom-line: outings like this don’t happen very often at all.
Well, the Braves ninth-ranked prospect, according to FanGraphs, just achieved the feat on Saturday, as JR Ritchie struck out nine in nine scoreless frames for High-A Rome in a 2-0 win over the Red Sox affiliate, the Greenville Drive. The 21-year-old righty allowed just one hit and one walk, throwing 68 of his 95 pitches for a strike.
Emperor JR Ritchie, ruler of nine innings 👑
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 11, 2025
The @Braves prospect fans nine and allows just one knock in a shutout for @GoEmperors. pic.twitter.com/Ua1BlBXdff
Thanks to Saturday’s scoreless performance by Ritchie, he’s now up to 20.2 shutout frames over his last three starts. In fact, other than a pair of middling starts to begin the season (featuring three walks apiece), the former 35th-overall pick has been dominant in High-A in 2025. Sporting a 1.30 ERA in seven total starts, the kid has pitched to an even better 1.13 ERA over his last four outings, generating fewer walks and more strikeouts in the process. For the year, Ritchie is at 8.2 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 – rates that indicate he’s doing much more than just holding his own.
Ritchie is more of a “pitcher” than a thrower, as his fastball usually stays around the low-90s MPH, though at times he can hit 94-96. But since his Tommy John surgery in 2023, reports indicate it’s his changeup that could boost his stock – a pitch that is apparently trending nicely according to FanGraphs’ March write-up on Ritchie. That offspeed offering, to go with an already plus slider (55/60 grade), hopefully will allow him to continue to rise, despite not wielding over-powering velocity.
Following the impressive performance, JR Ritchie received a promotion to AA Columbus.
The Braves have informed JR Ritchie that he will be promoted to Double-A Columbus for the upcoming week.
This comes on the heels of his 95 pitch complete game shutout against Greenville yesterday. Over seven starts in 2025 Ritchie owns a 4-1 record with a 1.30 ERA and 38 Ks.
— Geoff Pontes (@GeoffPontesBA) May 11, 2025
Still just 21-years-old, this is a massive step forward so early in his career (he only has 27 professional starts under his belt). But the Braves have never been an organization that is afraid of throwing their most talented arms into the fire early, and Ritchie is proving to be a prospect that could rise through the organization quickly.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
