While Colorado Rockies rookie shortstop Ryan Ritter (no. 17 PuRP) was molten hot during the month of May with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, Rockies fans were calling for his MLB debut.

Ritter knew his time might be coming. However, he remained focused on his daily baseball life. It’s a sentiment he’s shared before: stay focused and keep the noise out.

“I just thought, keep doing what I’m doing,” Ritter said in a Friday pre-game media scrum. “You know, it’s just a matter of time, whenever the time may be, that you wouldn’t at least expect it. So I was just gonna cancel out the outside noise and just focus on my day.”

The time came last Friday when Ritter’s contract was selected from Triple-A. With Ezequiel Tovar going on the injured list with a left oblique strain, Ritter was now the starting shortstop for the Colorado Rockies.

Back in 2022 Ritter had the opportunity to play with Tovar before the latter had been called up to the Rockies.

“It was nice because he actually didn’t get called up yet, so we were just taking ground balls in the backfield,” Ritter said. “And I’m like, ‘All right, this is the guy to talk to.”

Ritter also had the opportunity to watch and play with Tovar when he was on a minor league rehab assignment earlier this season.

“I’m just good taking ground balls with him. He’s a great player, and it’s great to watch how he goes about his work.”

Dating back to spring training, Ritter has focused on building relationships with teammates like Tovar.

“The goal this year was to get comfortable with the team, because I wanted to see them eventually this year,” he explained. “So just make relationships with all the players here, get comfortable [with them] and then get confidence with them by playing with them, because it’s just a matter of time when I was going to play with them.

“We just kind of talk it up, like mutual baseball players, like normal conversations,” he said of Tovar.

Ritter is also happy to be reunited with some former Isotopes teammates that he has joined on the big league roster.

“I was just with Carson Palmquist and [Chase] Dollander. All the guys that just got called up recently, we’ve been getting really close, so it’s been great to see them up here too.”

There was some concern how Ritter’s explosive month in Triple-A would translate to big league performance. After hitting .381/.445/.918 with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs over 24 games, expectations were high.

However, Ritter once again tuned out the outside noise and stayed focused on his day-to-day.

“Hitting is something that takes time. I’ve always wanted to be really great at hitting. It’s going to be a day-to-day learning process of getting better. I never want to be the same. I always want to get better, just like wine. The longer it takes in the cabinet, the better it tastes, you know? I mean, that’s the mindset.”

Ritter didn’t have to wait long for his first big league hit. Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning on Friday against the New York Mets, Ritter squared up with a line drive to left field. As he slid into third, he became the first Rockies batter to have a triple as their first career hit.

Ryan Ritter finished his first major league series with his first hit, first extra-base hit, first RBI, and a three-game hitting streak. With a team focus on getting younger and learning during a lost season, Ritter will continue to get opportunities to pursue early career milestones and build his case as a key piece of the Rockies’ future.

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Weekly Pebble Report: June 3rd-June 9th
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (2-4, 28-34 Overall)

The push to reach .500 for the Isotopes continues after they dropped four games to the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres), including two games where they gave up 14 runs. The Isotopes have the second worst record in the Pacific Coast League and sit ten games back of the East division-leading Oklahoma City Comets (Los Angeles Dodgers).

⬆️ Stock Up: This Dugan’s no Dum Dum

Isotopes reliever Dugan Darnell is quietly putting together a solid season out of the bullpen and is currently riding a four-game scoreless appearance streak dating back to May 23rd. Darnell pitched two scoreless, hitless innings against the Chihuahuas on Friday with three strikeouts. He currently has a 4.31 ERA in 19 appearances and has struck out 40 batters over 31 1⁄3 innings of work.

Yesterday, @DugDarnell tossed two more scoreless innings.

Over Dugan’s last four outings, he has combined for 6.1 frames without a run allowed. Just three hits relented and no walks during the span. pic.twitter.com/dUjxTYWoyg

— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) June 7, 2025

⬇️ Stock Down: Fallen Angel

Reliever Angel Chivilli made his first appearance of the season for the Isotopes after being optioned last week, and it did not go according to plan. Chivilli pitched just 2⁄3 of an inning and gave up five earned runs on three hits and two walks. Both of the outs he recorded were via the punchout.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (5-1, 30-27 Overall)

The Hartford Yard Goats helped their cause with a 5-1 series win over the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) as they make an improbable push for a first-half playoff spot. The Yard Goats are 8.5 games behind the Eastern League Northeast-leading Binghamton Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) with 12 games left in the first half. Every game counts from here on out.

⬆️ Stock Up: No sign of Cole-ing down

Yard Goats center fielder Cole Carrigg (no. 10 PuRP) has been making his case for a promotion to Triple-A and turned in yet another strong week. Against the Sea Dogs he went 10-for-23 at the plate with his ninth home run of the season, a triple, and six RBIs. His best game of the week came on Thursday when he went 4-for-6 with three RBIs.

⬆️ Stock Up: Carry Sean My Wayward Son

Left-handed starter Sean Sullivan (no. 8 PuRP) has been excellent in five starts since returning to the Yard Goats after off-season hip surgery. He has a 2.03 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 26 2⁄3 innings of work. Against the Sea Dogs he worked six shutout innings with a season high eight strikeouts and gave up just three hits.

High-A: Spokane Indians (3-3, 29-28 Overall)

The Indians managed to pull off a series split against the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks) after losing three in a row at one point during the series. With the end of the first half in sight, the Indians are just one game behind Hillsboro for the division lead… but so are their opponents for this week in the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).

⬆️ Stock Up: Condon’t look now…

Charlie Condon (no. 2 PuRP) continues to heat up since returning to Spokane with a mission. In six games against the Hops he hit 9-for-23 with two doubles and his second home run of the season while plating six RBIs. He also drew six walks to five strikeouts. During Sunday’s series finale he went 3-for-4 without striking out and crossed home a career-high three times.

⬆️ Stock Up: Wimmer takes all.

I don’t think I can do better than the Indians themselves did with this name pun. Braylen Wimmer was named Northwest League Player of the Month after an excellent May and shows no signs of slowing down. Wimmer went 11-for-25 against the Hops with two doubles, two home runs, and two stolen bases to compliment his nine RBIs.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (2-4, 25-32 Overall)

The Grizzlies dropped four of six against the Stockton Ports (Sacramento Athletics) to fall further below .500 on the season. The Grizzlies are 11 games behind the San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants) for the California League North and will not earn a playoff spot in the first half.

⬆️ Stock Up: Back on the horse.

(This is a reference to the 2004 movie Hidalgo, which I only saw once and I think was about horses?)

Shortstop Kelvin Hidalgo rebounded nicely after a rough series against the Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Diamondbacks) last week. In five games against the Ports, Hidalgo went 10-for-25 with four doubles, a home run—his fourth—and three RBIs while stealing two bases.

⬇️ Stock Down: Calaztrophobia

Robert Calaz (no. 5 PuRP) played in just three games against Stockton and went hitless in 11 at-bats with four strikeouts. He’s hitting just .214/.285/.402 on the season with five doubles, one triple, five home runs, and one stolen base.

Arizona Complex League: ACL Rockies (2-3, 14-13 Overall)

The ACL Rockies had another below .500 week, taking just two wins against the ACL Athletics and the ACL Mariners. The Rockies’ squad is still in second place in their division, but sits a whopping six games behind the 20-7 ACL Giants for the division lead.

⬆️ Stock Up: Pay tribute to the Bairon.

20-year-old Cuban-born infielder Bairon Ledesma had one of the most productive weeks at the plate for the ACL Rockies despite playing in only two games. Ledesma went 3-for-4 without striking out, had one double, drew one walk, and plated two RBIs.

⬇️ Stock Down: We don’t know Jack.

Left-handed pitcher Jack O’Loughlin was sent from Triple-A all the way down to the Complex this week, where he made two appearances. O’Loughlin pitched four combined innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and struck out four batters. It is not currently known why O’Loughlin was sent down to the ACL Rockies.

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