When the Colorado Rockies selected University of Kentucky shortstop Ryan Ritter in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, the organization knew they were getting a quality player and an excellent defender. However, scouting reports and draft pundits marked him as a glove-first player with an inconsistent bat.
Scouting reports graded his hitting as the lowest rated tool in the box… despite being a career .280/.349/.423 in college. When the Rockies drafted him, he was coming off of a .283/.369/.469 campaign with the Wildcats where he hit 14 doubles, two triples, and eight home runs.
“I definitely don’t try to listen to outside noise,” Ritter said this spring. “I know I want to be a great hitter, be a great infielder, and that’s just my what’s on my mind. So, I mean, whatever people have to say about me, it is what it is, but I just know what I need to take care of. That’s my mindset.”
Ritter (no. 17 PuRP) has definitely backed up his words thus far in his first season with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes. Although he had some of the standard scuffles early in the season that come with moving up to the next level of play, Ritter showed encouraging flashes at the plate, including hitting his first Triple-A home run in the second game of the season.
Then he caught fire.
Ritter has been truly incredible over the last few weeks. He is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak dating back to May 14th. During his streak he’s hitting .453/.500/1.027 with ten doubles, three triples, nine home runs, and only 13 strikeouts compared to eight walks. He was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks—the first player in Isotopes history to do so—and the Rockies named him their organization’s Player of the Month.
Ritter closed out the month of May with a strong showing against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. He played in all six games of the series while going 11-for-23 and slugging four home runs.
His 16 total home runs puts him in second overall for the Pacific Coast League, but the long ball isn’t necessarily his priority.
“My main focus is just being consistent with contact,” he said earlier this year. “You’re going to run into some, you’re going to catch them when you don’t expect it. So that’s not what I think about. I just think gap-to-gap, putting a good swing on the pitch. If I hit one at a good launch angle, it’s gonna go. Just hit it hard, hit it on the barrel.”
‘See ball, hit ball’ may sound simple, but it’s paying dividends for the young infielder. For a Rockies team desperately in need of offense, Ryan Ritter might find himself forcing their hand for a big league debut sooner rather than later.
★ ★ ★
Weekly Pebble Report: May 27th-June 2nd
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (4-2, 26-30 Overall)
The Isotopes finally walked away with their first series win of 2025, taking four games from the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros) at home. The ‘Topes scored ten or more runs in three of the six games played.
⬆️ Stock Up: Welcome to the PCL
Gabriel Hughes made his PCL debut with the Isotopes over the weekend and a pretty strong one at that. Hughes worked 5 2⁄3 innings on 90 pitches—both season highs as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He yielded four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks, but struck out four. He really only made one mistake, leaving a fastball middle-middle that was taken deep for a home run.
⬇️ Stock Down: Can’t catch a break
Drew Romo is off to a slow start since returning to the Isotopes from his spring injury. In four games against the Space Cowboys he went just 1-for-13 with six strikeouts and grounded into a double play. He’s only appeared in 12 games with Albuquerque so far this season, so hopefully he can start to find his groove.
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (3-4, 25-26 Overall)
The Yard Goats dropped a seven game series to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays) during the week they debuted their much anticipated “Thunder Chickens” alternate identity. Hartford has dropped below .500 after three straight series losses.
⬆️ Stock Up: How Juanderful!
Yard Goats outfielder Juan Guerrero (HM PuRP) was named Eastern League Player of the Week after a strong series against the Fisher Cats. Playing in all seven games, Guerrero went 11-for-23 with five RBIs, scored six times, and hit his first home run of the season.
⬇️ Stock Down: Stormy Weatherly
Left-handed reliever Sam Weatherly had his first difficult series of the season, seeing his ERA jump from 2.89 to 4.15 in two games against the Fisher Cats. He gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits—including two home runs—and walked five batters.
High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 26-25 Overall)
The Indians split a six game set against the Everett Aqua Sox (Seattle Mariners) to keep themselves one game above .500 on the season. If the Indians have a strong series this week, they could see themselves climbing in the Northwest League standings.
⬆️ Stock Up: Just Keep Wimming
Braylen Wimmer does a little bit of everything for the Spokane Indians. He’s logged time everywhere but first base, catcher, and center field this season, he can hit for some power, and he’s got solid speed in his legs. Wimmer was named Northwest League Player of the Week after going 9-for-25 against the Aqua Sox with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs, and a stolen base.
⬇️ Stock Down: Pachekyll and Hyde
It was a strange week for Indians righty Alberto Pacheco. In his first start to kick off the series, he gave up only one earned run and one hit over six innings of work… but also walked a whopping seven batters. He closed out the week getting pummeled by the Aqua Sox, giving up eight earned runs on eight hits over 5 2⁄3 innings. He only walked one batter, but three of the hits he yielded were home runs.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (4-2, 23-28 Overall)
A much needed winning series against the Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Diamondbacks) helped the Grizzlies pull themselves a little further out of the basement of the California League. The series win came largely thanks to pitching, as the Grizzlies offense scored more than three runs just once.
⬆️ Stock Up: The Catlett’s out of the bag
22-year-old left-handed pitcher and 2024 draft pick Everett Catlett made two strong starts against the Rawhide at the top of the Grizzlies rotation. He pitched five innings while allowing just three runs (two earned) to start the week and struck out five batters. While he did give up eight hits, he pitched well with traffic. He finished the week with the best start of his young career, working seven shutout innings with a career high seven strikeouts.
⬇️ Stock Down: Kelvin cooling off
Grizzlies shortstop Kelvin Hidalgo went just 3-for-22 while grounding into a double play and getting caught stealing through six games against the Rawhide. While he did draw an even three walks to three strikeouts, it was a disappointing series after a solid showing the week prior against the San Jose Giants.
Arizona Complex League: ACL Rockies (2-4, 12-10 Overall)
It was a busy week for the Arizona Complex League as the ACL Rockies squeezed in six games. Unfortunately, the ACL Rockies weren’t able to string together many wins during the week. They took games from the ACL Diamondbacks and ACL Athletics.
⬆️ Stock Up: It’s been a while, Kyle
Kyle Karros (no. 12 PuRP) looks ready to return to the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats after a strong week rehabbing in Arizona. He went 4-for-10 with two doubles and drew three walks to only one strikeout. Karros hasn’t played with Hartford since May 2nd.
⬇️ Stock Down: Having a Lee bit of trouble
The Rockies signed minor league free agent and former California University of Pennsylvania outfielder David Lee to a contract recently as a pitcher. Lee had converted to pitcher when he transferred to Penn State. In his first two appearances with the ACL Rockies, Lee gave up five earned runs on five hits and two walks over two innings of work. Lee is 25-years-old.
★ ★ ★
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