Ritchie gave up two hits and two walks over five scoreless relief innings in Friday's loss to the Mets. He struck out five.
The rookie right-hander finished out the game after Spencer Strider (forearm) was pulled following a leadoff walk to MJ Melendez in the bottom of the fourth inning while showing greatly diminished velocity. Strider has already been placed on the IL and is being sent for an MRI on Saturday, and Ritchie's impressive relief performance over 73 pitches (42 strikes) makes him the logical candidate to move into the rotation. Over 30.2 innings in the majors this season, Ritchie has a 3.82 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 26:18 K:BB.