Welcome to the show: Lincoln-Way East alum Ryan Ritter rolling after MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies

Albuquerque Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez walked up to Ryan Ritter following a Triple-A game in El Paso with a letter in his hand.

It was the call Ritter had dreamed about, but did not expect at the time.

Ritter, a Lincoln-Way East alum, had twice been named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week in May. When Lopez told Ritter the letter was from the PCL, the 24-year old assumed he’d been named Player of the Month.

When Lopez had Ritter read the letter out loud, he realized it was something much bigger than that.

“It just said, ‘Hey man, you’re going to the Major Leagues,” Ritter said.

On June 6, Ritter was added to the 40-man roster for the Colorado Rockies for the first time in his career. It was the culmination of a long and at times strange journey for the shortstop, but one in which he never strayed from his path.

Griffin great

Ritter’s career began in Frankfort, where he chose to attend Lincoln-Way East after being recruited by Brother Rice. After back-to-back losing seasons Ritter’s first two years, the Griffins hired Eric Brauer to take over as skipper.

The result? A 54-12 Lincoln-Way East record the next two campaigns with a regional championship. Ritter took his game to the next level, too, as he was named to the Herald-News All-Area team as a senior.

While Brauer left Lincoln-Way East following the 2023 season, Ritter’s still connected to the current staff. He heads back to Frankfort during the offseason and tries to stay embedded in the community that’s given him so much.

“The area definitely has some buzz right now and that’s mostly because of the culture they have up there,” Ritter said. “I work out with some of the kids on my brother’s travel ball team and I see the kind of competitors they are. That’s a good environment to be in.”

The Long and Winding Road

Drafted by the Cubs out of high school in the 33rd round, Ritter opted to pass up the pros for a chance to improve his game. Though he initially committed to Austin Peay, he ended up enrolling at John A. Logan College in downstate Carterville.

The journey got a bit weirder from there.

Ritter was hitting .342 as a freshman his first 21 games before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The year in community college was still worth it, as he transferred to Kentucky the following season.

Ritter had two solid seasons with the Wildcats, including hitting .283 with eight homers and 36 RBIs in 59 games as a junior. He stood out on defense, too, earning the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Award for shortstop.

Colorado saw the talent Ritter possessed, opting to select him in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft, 116th overall. After starting out at community college, Ritter ended his amateur career by signing a contract worth $530,000.

“I always believed that I’d be here one day,” Ritter said. “It was definitely a crazy process, but I definitely take my moments to step back and realize, ‘Wow, this is something that I’ve always dreamed of.’ At the end of the day, though, I’m just playing a fun kids’ game and I’m thankful for that.”

Rockie Mountain High

From there, Ritter moved through the Rockies minor league system. From Arizona, to Fresno, to Spokane, to Hartford, to Albuquerque. After three years, he finally made it to Denver.

He didn’t waste time making his presence felt, either. His entire family came out to support him for his debut game against the NL East-leading New York Mets. In the bottom of the fifth inning in just his second MLB at bat, Ritter picked up his first career hit.

Not just a hit, either. It was a leadoff triple earned off 2023 MLB All-Star Kodai Senga. It was something he couldn’t have scripted if he tried.

“It was awesome,” Ritter said. “My family being there made it special and it being a triple made it more fun.”

It’s no secret that the Rockies have struggled this season. At the time of this writing they were 17-57 and on pace to break the White Sox’s single season loss record. Ritter has dealt with challenges plenty of times before, however, and he’s not handling this one any differently.

“You just have to take it one step at a time,” he said. “You don’t want to look at all the negativity. Sometimes you take a day to focus on the small things or take away the positives and eventually you’ll get to where you want to be. ...It’s just a matter of time until we break out of it.”

That time may be now. The Rockies are currently on a four-game win streak, tied with Cincinnati for the best active stretch in the majors.

As for Ritter individually, there’ve been highs and lows. He’s gone 8 for 39 with five RBIs and four runs scored to start his big league career. While he’d like to be doing better, he’s been down this road before and come out on top. He’s going to continue doing what helped get him here.

After all, it’s worked so far.

“I’m getting advice on how to deal with the adversity of coming to the big leagues and not finding immediate success,” he said. “It’s the process I’ve been through my entire life. There’s never been a time when I’m only doing good. I’m always going to keep going forward no matter how low things might get.”