DENVER -- Feeling overlooked has always inspired Rockies rookie infielder Ryan Ritter to make himself impossible to miss.
Ritter’s next chance to forge a place for himself began Friday night. Activated after spending time on the injured list with a lacerated right middle finger, Ritter started at shortstop against the Diamondbacks, as manager Warren Schaeffer rested Ezequiel Tovar.
Ritter, the Rockies' No. 12 prospect, a 2022 fourth-round MLB Draft pick from the University of Kentucky, will likely receive more chances at second base.
Friday’s start marked his 30th at short in 32 Major League games, but most of those occurred when he was called up to fill in for Tovar, who was battling injuries earlier this season. But two of his three defensive starts during his injury rehab assignment this week at Triple-A Albuquerque were at second base.
Ritter -- who was injured when his finger was hit by the ball during a bunt attempt (but participated wholeheartedly in bunting practice before Friday’s game) -- returns to a roster that has lost second baseman Thairo Estrada to a right hamstring injury, and veteran utility infielder Orlando Arcia is out with a right elbow injury.
There are other options at second in multi-position players Kyle Farmer and Aaron Schunk. But Ritter put up big numbers in Triple-A (.303, 16 HR, 50 RBIs in 55 total games) and had solid moments during his first Major League trial (.238, 1 HR, 12 RBIs). Can he nose his way into playing time the rest of this year, and consideration for starts next season?
“I’ve played shortstop my whole life, so I’m excited for a new opportunity to play second base,” Ritter said. “Going from short to second is easier than going second to short. I’ll just use it as another opportunity to play a position, then get good at it.”
At the start of the season, Ritter was high on the list of breakout players.
Ritter had solid overall numbers last year at Double-A Hartford (.270 with a .370 on-base percentage), but also had occasional back problems and endured a late slump. His performance in the Arizona Fall League required a keen eye to appreciate -- a .150 batting average but a .477 on-base percentage with 18 walks plus seven hit by pitches in 18 games.
Tovar started the year healthy. The team signed Estrada as a free agent. Switch-hitting Adael Amador -- sent down Friday when the Rockies activated Ritter -- had a higher profile, and Schunk and Farmer had Major League experience. But Ritter’s early performance at Albuquerque was impossible to ignore.
It’s not the first time Ritter earned his way.
Coming out of Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankford, Ill., Ritter was recruited by Division 1 schools such as Illinois State and Austin Peay.
“But I had a dream of playing SEC ball -- the highest level of college ball,” Ritter said. “I wanted to play at the cool stadiums against the best competition, year in and year out. Those kids got drafted the most. I wanted to play against the best.”
So Ritter enrolled at John A. Logan College, a two-year school in Carterville, Ill. That’s where Friday night Rockies starter Tanner Gordon played before going to the University of Indiana, and where former Rockies infielder Jamey Carroll, whose sacrifice fly in the 13th inning drove in the winning run in the famed 2007 Game 163 win over the Padres, played before going to the University of Evansville.
Ritter had no idea that playing at John A. Logan College for one year would lead to the Rockies. But he was confident it would lead to the SEC opportunity he received at Kentucky.
“I just felt I had to take one step back to take a couple steps forward,” he said.
There is more to the picture at second base.
Tyler Freeman, who has found a home in right field, started at second on Friday. He was in line for the position with the Guardians before being traded to the Rockies just before Opening Day. The position could be an option in the future. Also, in the trade that sent third baseman Ryan McMahon to the Yankees, the Rockies acquired Roc Riggio, who is playing second at Hartford and has been ranked the team’s No. 13 prospect.
In this season’s final months, Ritter will try to play well enough to move forward as part of the Rockies’ roster.
“He’s always been a prospect for us, and he’s put up numbers wherever he’s been and put his name on the map,” Schaeffer said. “That’s what he wanted. He wants to play in the big leagues for a long time, so he gets after it every day. You can see that. The fans can clearly see that when they’re watching the game. That’s all you can ask.”