Ryan Ritter made his MLB debut in 2025

Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2025. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

Like 12 other players, Ryan Ritter made his MLB debut for the Colorado Rockies in 2025. Specifically, he was called upon in early June among a flurry of roster moves that included the release of veteran catcher Jacob Stallings and the placement of Ezequiel Tovar on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain.

Ritter played shortstop and batted sixth in his debut, going 1-for-4 with a triple — as his first MLB hit — and a strikeout in his first go-around.

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He spent six weeks with the team before hitting the IL himself in late-July with a right middle-finger laceration. He then spent three weeks recovering. After a quick rehab assignment in Albuquerque, Ritter returned to the lineup on August 15 and stayed there for the rest of the season.

He spent the rest of the season primarily at second base with occasional stints at short.

In his rookie year, Ritter batted .241/.296/.337 in 60 games with nine doubles, three triples, one home run, 18 RBI, three stolen bases (in four tries), 10 walks (4.8%) and 61 strikeouts (29.5%).

“It’s been great,” Ritter said in September of his debut season. “It’s always been a dream to be up here and play in MLB. So I’ve been very happy, and I’ve been enjoying the ride for sure.”

Other than his debut, Ritter said the highlight of his year was “getting [his] first home run out of the way” on July 12 against the Cincinnati Reds.

“I got it a couple of days before the All-Star Break,” he recalled. “It was nice. I wanted to go into the All-Star Break with at least one. So that was a great day. My family was there, my coaches from college were there, too, so it was a great day.”

Ritter was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 Draft from the University of Kentucky. He rocketed his way up through the minors, landing in Double-A Hartford towards the end of the 2023 season. Ahead of his callup, he had a 17-game hit streak and was mashing .453/.500/1.027 with 10 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 13 strikeouts and just eight walks. He was also named PCL Player of the Week for two-straight weeks, and Rockies Organizational Player of the Month for May.

However, like any debut season, 2025 wasn’t without challenges for Ritter.

“This is a new level of baseball, and it’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “I’d say the daily grind of just learning [has been the biggest challenge]. But the veterans have taken me under their wing, and I’m learning and just trying to adjust to the game as fast as I can. It’s been a good challenge.”

Specifically, he cited Kyle Farmer and Orlando Arcia as two veterans who helped him adjust to the major leagues.

“They just teach me,” he said. “I mean, they’ve been in this game a long time – each of them – so they just teach me just the little things. Nothing crazy, though, but just how to be a professional overall.”

And they especially helped him game plan, particularly Farmer.

“I feel like what these guys do up here is have a good game plan of what they think pitchers are trying to do to them,” he said. “So I just listen to them and what they think. I know having a plan when you play is very important. I definitely lean on [Farmer] for advice. If you don’t play, he’s a good guy to just sit next to during the game.”

Looking ahead, Ritter is working to improve his game.

“[I’m most looking forward to] gaining some confidence going into the offseason,” he said, “and then leveling up my game in every aspect, and getting stronger. It’s going to be a big priority, but I couldn’t be more excited for the future.”

Ritter had a strong rookie campaign, but saw some of the wear and tear towards the end of the season, like many of the others did. Warren Schaeffer even mentioned that Ritter needed to spend the offseason hitting the weight room to build more stamina for the 2026 season.

With Tovar on the roster, shortstop is likely locked up for the foreseeable future, so Ritter will likely be battling it out for second base alongside Adael Amador and potentially others. Paul DePodesta has a lot to think about going forward, and one of those questions is whether Ritter made a strong enough case to stay on the Rockies roster.

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