3/9 - 3/15 Spring Training Prospect Notables

JR Ritchie, ATL

• Depending on your preference between Cam Caminiti and JR Ritchie, the latter might be the top pitching prospect in a Braves system that continues to churn out talent on the mound. The 35th overall pick in the 2022 draft from the prep ranks, Ritchie is coming off of a true breakout campaign in which he threw a career-high 140 innings across 26 starts between High-A Rome, Double-A Columbus, and Triple-A Gwinnett. When it was all said and done, it was a 2.64 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, .174 batting average against, and a 24.8% strikeout rate for the 22 year old right-hander.

  With an already banged-up pitching staff in Atlanta, Ritchie has done a good job of making a case for himself to break camp with the team. He made two appearances this past week, throwing a total of eight innings. He threw against the Blue Jays on Tuesday and then the Phillies on Sunday, giving up just two earned runs across the week while striking out eight on one hit and four walks. His appearance on Sunday was an impressive one as he threw four no-hit, shutout innings against the Phillies, with the only base runner reaching via a hit-by-pitch. Ritchie featured his deep six pitch mix, throwing five of his six offerings at least 10% of the time. The changeup is the premier pitch in the arsenal, sitting in the mid to upper-80s with sub-zero inches of IVB, averaging -1.3 on Sunday, and 13.4 inches of arm-side run. He dropped it in the zone over 80% of the time against the Phillies and returned a 40% whiff rate on it. The fastball is merely average at roughly 94 mph without any outlier metrics, but at 14 inches of IVB, it pairs well with the changeup when sequenced properly. He’s mixing in a sinker as another arm-side offering while spinning both a cutter and a curveball upwards of 2700 RPMs. He’s flashing a high-spin sweeping slider as well with up to 15 inches of glove-side break.

  Over the course of four total spring training appearances thus far, opposing hitters own just a .057 batting average against Ritchie while he’s posting a 0.58 WHIP and a 32.6% strikeout rate. Ritchie’s success this spring is hard to deny, and with 11 starts at Triple-A already under his belt, the likelihood he beats out Bryce Elder for the final rotation spot on the Opening Day roster is becoming stronger.

Leo De Vries, ATH

• Appearing on here in back to back weeks, the Athletics top prospect and 5th overall ranked prospect on the Baseball Focus top 50 gave me no other choice but to highlight him again. In 16 plate appearances this past week, the swtich-hitting shortstop logged the fourth highest OPS among qualified hitters with a mark of 1.496. He hit safely in five of the six games he played in, which included three multi-hit games and four extra-base hits. He hit his third home run of the spring on Sunday afternoon against the Guardians with Tanner Bibbee on the mound. His second strong week in a row brings him up to a .409/.447/.682 slash line, good for a 1.129 OPS and a 194 wRC+ in his first full big league camp at just the age of 19.

Tommy White, ATH

• The Athletics have been giving their top prospects a lot of playing time this spring which is why Tommy White is the third Athletic to appear on here as a Spring Training prospect notable in just the past two weeks. White was the 40th overall pick to the A’s in the 2024 draft, coming off of a College World Series championship with LSU just a year prior. His first full pro season with the A’s got off to a relatively slow start, but if his first full big league camp with the A’s this spring is indicative of anything, it’s that he may be due for a breakout campaign in 2026. In 16 plate appearances this past week, White went 7-16 with three extra-base hits, one of which left the yard for his fourth home run of the spring. He amounted to a 1.188 OPS on the week, which brought his slash line on the spring up to .441/.459/.853, good for a 1.312 OPS and a 230 wRC+, both of which rank second among qualified A’s hitters this spring only behind Shea Langeliers.

  While it was a down year compared to expectations a year ago, White did manage to spend some time at Double-A Midland where it’s likely he opens in 2026. In 395 plate appearances between Low-A Stockton, High-A Lansing, and Double-A in 2025, White hit 12 home runs with a .275/.334/.439 slash line and a 108 wRC+ while striking out just 13.7% of the time.