Ryan Ritter is making noise for the 'Bat Cats

Most of the BBN has been laser-focused on what the ‘Cats have been doing over at Kroger Field the past couple of weeks, with good reason. First in the SEC East right now–just stating facts. While the buzz is all over football right now, Ryan Ritter has been gaining serious attention this summer for the Kentucky Baseball team.

CAPE COD RANKINGS: TOP 25 HITTERS

Our dive into the top #MLBDraft prospects continues w/ T25 @OfficialCCBL hitters.

1. Brooks Lee, @calpolystangs
2. Ryan Ritter, @UKBaseball
3. Chase DeLauter, @JMUBaseball
4. Cayden Wallace, @RazorbackBSB

THE REST: https://t.co/wxkFkoG3GR pic.twitter.com/iECC3fJoAT

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) August 23, 2021

Cooking out on the Cape

This honestly might have been the most surprising thing to see come out of the baseball program over the summer. Ritter showed some promise and life with the bat towards the end of the year. He got his average up to a .275 last year which isn’t all that awful. It was more of the .365 slugging percentage and .323 on-base percentage that made it look like he wasn’t fully ready for SEC pitching. His calling card has always been gold glove level defense, but he took off this summer with the bat.

Ritter was an absolute menace out in Massachusetts. Playing in arguably the best collegiate summer league in the country, he went off for a .330 average. More importantly, he got on base 43% of the time and had a slugging percentage that’s heading towards non-embarrassing numbers. We won’t focus on the playoffs where he went 2-12 with one walk. Those are arbitrary numbers.

Ryan Ritter was one of the @OfficialCCBL breakout stars this summer! @RyRit47 | @CotuitKettleers pic.twitter.com/fFOTt9XtAX

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) August 28, 2021

Ritter getting national attention

To be fair, it’s not the first time the Chicago native has been spotlighted by national databases. He was a top-5 JUCO transfer a couple of years ago before coming to Lexington. He was always seen as a high-upside player that might need some time to adjust. Executing on the stage he did over the summer is the promising part. Ritter’s back in the news again, this time getting buzz for next year’s MLB Draft.

Ryan Ritter ranked the No. 23 overall college draft prospect in the country and No. 2 SS by @d1baseball!@RyRit47 | #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/Hq0LunAiGT

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) September 10, 2021

Ritter is most likely going to be the first Bat ‘Cat off the board next year, so it makes sense to a degree. Getting this sort of praise after an average season with the bat last year isn’t something to scoff at though. There’s something to this. There’s generally been a consensus that his glove is MLB worthy, if the scouts believe he can somewhat match up to that with the bat, he’s going to be flying up draft boards.

I’m not saying to expect Ritter will be batting third this year for the ‘Cats. The lineup is well-rounded and full of high average guys now. But even if Ritter ends up towards the bottom of the lineup again this season, it’ll be a huge boost for turning over the lineup.