Braves News: JR Ritchie called up, Didier Fuentes starts, more

TL;DR

The Atlanta Braves have called up top prospect JR Ritchie to make his MLB debut against the Nationals. Didier Fuentes started a recent game, while Cookie Carrasco joins the roster as the team manages pitching depth.

Key points

JR Ritchie called up for MLB debut against Nationals
Didier Fuentes started a recent game, striking out 7 batters
Cookie Carrasco joins the roster to cover pitching depth

Atlanta BravesMinnesota Twins

NORTH PORT, FL- FEBRUARY 22: JR Ritchie #92 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins on February 22, 2026 at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images Well it has rapidly turned into prospect week for the Braves’ rotation, as a 1.0 inning Reynaldo Lopez start on Tuesday in the middle of a stretch of 10 games straight sent the Braves’ pitching into a scramble to cover innings. An up and down 3.0 inning start from Didier Fuentes resulted in Thursday’s scheduled starter Martin Perez being burnt to cover another 3.0 innings. Fuentes was probably better than his line would indicate, as he got a bit unlucky with some BABIP, while striking out 7 batters across 3.0 innings and generated 15 whiffs on 74 pitches. That said, he was not as his best, particularly in the first inning. So that leaves us with JR Ritchie making his MLB debut on Thursday as a consensus top 100 prospect and top 2 prospect in the organization. Ritchie made a real push for a rotation spot in Spring Training and has been largely effective in AAA so far. Ritchie has a deep pitch mix and will be fun to watch on Thursday, as he can hopefully can provide some depth for a Braves team that desperately needs it.

Braves News

The Braves are calling up top prospect JR Ritchie to start Thursday’s series finale against the Nationals. , as the Braves are really scraping the bottom of the organizational barrel to cover innings in this 10 game stretch, no disrespect to Carrasco’s impressive career. to start Wednesday’s game. Didier Fuentes showed some promise and some flaws in a 3.0 inning outing to start what ended up being an .

Q&A

Who is JR Ritchie and why is he making his MLB debut?

JR Ritchie is a consensus top 100 prospect and the second-best prospect in the Braves organization, making his MLB debut due to the team's need for pitching depth.

What happened to Didier Fuentes during his start for the Braves?

Didier Fuentes had an up-and-down performance, pitching 3.0 innings with 7 strikeouts but was not at his best, contributing to the team's pitching struggles.

Why did the Braves call up Cookie Carrasco?

Cookie Carrasco was called up to replace Dylan Dodd as the Braves are facing a pitching shortage during a stretch of 10 consecutive games.