Ryan Ritter's plate approach primes him for a breakout season

People usually use Cape Cod as an opportunity to get away from the world for a while. The beautiful crest off the east end of Massachusetts provides some of the more serene and relaxing environments in the country.

That is, unless you’re trying to become an MLB player and you’re out there to prove yourself as one of the elite players in the country. Kentucky’s Ryan Ritter traded the beach for the basepaths, and it might’ve made all the difference.

Ryan Ritter looks to be a complete player in 2022

The Chicago native came into Kentucky as one of the highest-rated JUCO transfers in the country in 2021. He was advertised to be this gold-glove caliber shortstop who still needed some time at the plate to catch up to speed. Honestly, every report appeared to be right and then some.

Within a few weeks of watching him play, you realized that Ryan Ritter was one of the purest, most fluid shortstops that you will ever see touch the field. He made every single simple play — that’s great. Where he really shined though was making the impossible look effortless. Balls in the hole or up the middle, it didn’t matter for Ritter. He legitimately gets to every ball possible and still has the ability to throw guys out while on his knees.

Ritter was brought here for his defense, and he just may be the best defender you see play college this year.

“Positionally, we start with Ryan Ritter. Preseason All-American, a wizard at shortstop. I mean there’s not an inning that goes by that he doesn’t keep impressing us, and I don’t know why we keep getting impressed because he’s amazing.” UK head coach Nick Mingione said during Tuesday’s Media Day. “The part with him that improved the most was the offensive tool. He was fourth in the league in hitting this summer in the Cape Cod league. So we’re excited to welcome him back.”

Okay, we’ve been hearing about Cape Cod all offseason. Ritter went and played elite competition. And? He already saw some of the best in the SEC the year prior. So, what changed?

A switch in approach changed it all for Ritter

The mystery of the Cape Cod success for Ritter was one that eluded the public for months on end. He looked more comfortable at the plate towards the latter half of the season for sure, see the explosion in the win over Louisville, for example.

Overall, his campaign was more good than great. Which was totally okay for the time — he exceeded every expectation defensively.

Ritter finished 2021 with a reasonably okay .272 average in 172 at-bats, but it’s the power aspect that he struggled mightily. In his first go as a Wildcat, Ritter posted a .365 slugging percentage mixed with a .323 on-base percentage. Certainly nothing to fawn over.

So with that in mind, Ritter was sent to the Cotuit Kettleers this past summer with hopes of just polishing his game. But what happened in Massachusetts might’ve changed the trajectory of Ritter’s career permanently.

Ritter walked out of the Cape with a top-5 batting average in the entire league. It was almost unfathomable to see at first. Not only did he dramatically improve his hitting, but he might’ve just become the best all-around hitter in the league. But why, or just as importantly, how?

If you followed Ritter’s stats throughout the entire summer, his final line became even more egregious. On July 21st, Ritter’s average dropped down to a disappointing .218 with a .273 slugging percentage. His numbers dropped significantly even from his first season in Lexington. It looked as if people were right to assume that elite-level pitching would just be a little too much to make him that complete player.

Well, that is until Ritter made a slight adjustment at the plate that as he said, “Baseball kinda changed for me in the way of hitting.”

Watch below as he explains his minor adjustments.

Ryan Ritter credits a simple change to his approach as to why his offensive game jumped so much over the off-season pic.twitter.com/Eb4H3uuLuT

— Eric Decker (@Edecker17) February 8, 2022

After this change was made, Ritter finished up the last few weeks of the Cape Cod league playing some of the best ball of his career. In the 11 games after losing to Chatham, Ritter dominated his way back up to a .330 average with a .429 slugging percentage. He registered a hit in every game after, recording six multi-hit games.

The jump in numbers was truly mindboggling, but I think we’ve finally found an answer. And honestly, it’s even better than expected.

2022 is Ritter’s Breakout campaign

Ryan Ritter was always going to be on MLB draft boards no matter what. His defensive prowess is just too good to disregard. His explosion in the Cape matched with the excitement around this season has thrust Ritter into becoming a borderline first-round prospect. He seems as confident as ever, and knows he’s ready to make his mark on the college game.

“It’s good to have it [expectations] but it doesn’t keep me satisfied,” Ritter said. “I’m excited to keep going but I feel like there’s a lot more to prove. It’s cool though to get those acknowledgments.”

After being slotted at the end of the lineup all of last season, Ritter is set to become the leadoff man for Nick Mingione and his staff, something we saw him excel at in limited action during the fall. We went into the fall with just a bit of skepticism, then saw the numbers in the Cape but we had yet to find out why it happened. That all changed though after roughly 15 minutes.

In his first at-bat this fall, Ritter ripped a ball off the wall for extra-bases and looked stronger than ever. He kept that attitude and approach up throughout the fall and just racked up quality at-bats. It was enough to see that something changed, and now we know what.

Personal accolades aside, Ritter is obviously more focused on the team and what Kentucky can do in the SEC. Everyone in the program believes they’re ready to compete.

“We’re really excited, like this is the year. We have high expectations and each one on the team is looking forward to the season.”

With a newly unlocked Ryan Ritter, I wouldn’t put it past them.