Who Should I Trade?

JR Ritchie for Merrill Kelly (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Merrill Kelly SP - ARI	JR Ritchie SP,RP - ATL
Expert Recommendation	75% Recommended by 3 of 4 experts	25% Recommended by 1 of 4 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 158	# 258
VBR	# 445	# 958

Projections

Strikeouts	22	6
Wins	2	0
Saves	0	0
ERA	4.64	4.36
WHIP	1.41	1.49

Misc

Injury Alert	-	MiLB

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 166	‐

Mike Maher BettingPros	# 160	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 213	# 444

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 156	# 138

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Merrill Kelly SP - ARI	JR Ritchie SP,RP - ATL
2026 Stats


Games Played	24	14

Games Started	24	8

Innings Pitched	134.2	58.0

Wins	8	1

Losses	12	2

Saves	0	1

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	0	2

Hits Allowed	144	48

Earned Runs	80	30

Home Runs Allowed	26	9

Strikeouts	88	53

Walks	60	36

ERA	5.35	4.66

WHIP	1.51	1.45

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Merrill Kelly SP - ARI	JR Ritchie SP,RP - ATL
2026 Projections


Games Played	5	6

Games Started	5	1

Innings Pitched	28.6	6.6

Wins	2	0

Losses	2	0

Saves	0	0

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	0	0

Hits Allowed	30	6

Earned Runs	15	3

Home Runs Allowed	4	1

Strikeouts	22	6

Walks	10	3

ERA	4.64	4.36

WHIP	1.41	1.49

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Merrill Kelly SP - ARI	JR Ritchie SP,RP - ATL
News
	Merrill Kelly allowed three runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and three walks in a loss on Tuesday against the Cubs. Ari Koslow Tue, Aug 25th	The Braves have optioned right-hander JR Ritchie to Triple-A Gwinnett. Brenton Kemp Mon, Aug 3rd
	Merrill Kelly allowed six runs on seven hits over four innings with two strikeouts and four walks in a loss on Tuesday against the Red Sox. Ari Koslow Wed, Aug 19th	JR Ritchie allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four over four innings in Sunday's 4-2 win against the Nationals. Nate Miller - FantasyPros Mon, Aug 3rd
	Merrill Kelly allowed six runs on six hits over five innings with two strikeouts and three walks in a loss on Wednesday against the Rockies. Ari Koslow Thu, Aug 13th	The Braves recall RHP JR Ritchie from Triple-A Gwinnett. Ari Koslow Sun, Aug 2nd
	Merrill Kelly left his start Friday because of a right leg cramp. Ari Koslow Sat, Aug 8th	JR Ritchie was scratched from his scheduled start with Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday. Ari Koslow Sat, Aug 1st
	Merrill Kelly allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings with five strikeouts and four walks in a loss on Sunday against the Guardians. Ari Koslow Mon, Aug 3rd	The Braves optioned JR Ritchie to Triple-A Gwinnett. Ari Koslow Wed, Jul 22nd
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Merrill Kelly SP - ARI			JR Ritchie SP,RP - ATL
Fri, Mar 27th	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-8)	#110	vs KC	Cole Ragans (1-4)
Sat, Mar 28th	@ LAD	Tyler Glasnow (3-0)	#16	vs KC	Michael Wacha (8-8)	#78
Sun, Mar 29th				vs KC	Seth Lugo (6-7)	#102
Mon, Mar 30th	vs DET	Justin Verlander (0-1)	#196	vs ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#173
Tue, Mar 31st	vs DET	Casey Mize (5-8)	#38	vs ATH	Aaron Civale (6-7)	#223
Wed, Apr 1st	vs DET	Tarik Skubal (8-7)	#2	vs ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)
Thu, Apr 2nd	vs ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#109	@ ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#134
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (9-5)	#205	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (14-4)	#88
Sat, Apr 4th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (8-7)	#194	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-4)	#104
Sun, Apr 5th	vs ATL	Martin Perez (8-8)	#228	@ ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (7-1)	#83
Mon, Apr 6th				@ LAA	Jose Soriano (10-7)	#36
Tue, Apr 7th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (6-11)	#41	@ LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-4)	#111
Wed, Apr 8th	@ NYM	David Peterson (7-7)	#80	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (4-8)	#43
Fri, Apr 10th	@ PHI	Jesus Luzardo (12-5)	#9	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#143
Sat, Apr 11th	@ PHI	Taijuan Walker (1-4)		vs CLE	Parker Messick (10-8)	#31
Sun, Apr 12th	@ PHI	Zach Pop		vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (5-14)	#52
Mon, Apr 13th	@ BAL	Dean Kremer (2-5)	#75	vs MIA	Eury Perez (7-10)	#49
Tue, Apr 14th	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (9-9)	#55	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)
Wed, Apr 15th	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-12)	#50	vs MIA	Chris Paddack (0-7)
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TOR	Braydon Fisher (3-4)	#141	@ PHI	Taijuan Walker (1-4)
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TOR	Max Scherzer (1-7)	#164	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (16-4)	#3
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TOR	Kevin Gausman (7-11)	#27	@ PHI	Andrew Painter (3-8)	#206
Mon, Apr 20th				@ WSH	Jake Irvin (2-8)	#195
Tue, Apr 21st	vs CWS	Sean Burke (7-6)	#84	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (15-4)	#37
Wed, Apr 22nd	vs CWS	Anthony Kay (9-6)	#185	@ WSH	Zack Littell (8-8)	#330
Thu, Apr 23rd	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-6)	#144	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (12-5)	#61
Fri, Apr 24th				vs PHI	Andrew Painter (3-8)	#206
Sat, Apr 25th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#426	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-5)	#11
Sun, Apr 26th	vs SD	Michael King (8-9)	#51	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (5-10)	#47
Tue, Apr 28th	@ MIL	Chad Patrick (7-4)	#116	vs DET	Casey Mize (5-8)	#38
Wed, Apr 29th	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)	#175	vs DET	Tarik Skubal (8-7)	#2
Thu, Apr 30th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs DET	Framber Valdez (8-9)	#44
Fri, May 1st	@ CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#167	@ COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#433
Sat, May 2nd	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#30	@ COL	Brennan Bernardino (3-3)	#214
Sun, May 3rd	@ CHC	Matthew Boyd (8-3)	#45	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (4-10)	#414
Mon, May 4th				@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (11-7)	#12
Tue, May 5th	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (6-9)	#122	@ SEA	George Kirby (9-10)	#23
Wed, May 6th	vs PIT	Paul Skenes (9-11)	#5	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (9-9)	#15
Fri, May 8th	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (9-8)	#34	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-8)	#110
Sat, May 9th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (5-6)	#58	@ LAD	Blake Snell (2-1)	#17
Sun, May 10th	vs NYM	Huascar Brazoban (5-2)	#263	@ LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-5)	#133
Tue, May 12th	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (7-10)	#35	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#167
Wed, May 13th	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (5-10)	#118	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#30
Thu, May 14th				vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#219
Fri, May 15th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (4-10)	#414	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#224
Sat, May 16th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8)	#435	vs BOS	Payton Tolle (8-6)	#26
Sun, May 17th	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-11)	#292	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (5-6)	#150
Mon, May 18th	vs SF	Robbie Ray (11-7)	#87	@ MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)
Tue, May 19th	vs SF	Landen Roupp (8-13)	#74	@ MIA	Braxton Garrett (0-1)	#246
Wed, May 20th	vs SF	Tyler Mahle (5-10)	#70	@ MIA	Janson Junk (6-8)	#124
Thu, May 21st	vs COL	Zach Agnos		@ MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-8)	#65
Fri, May 22nd	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8)	#435	vs WSH	Richard Lovelady (2-4)
Sat, May 23rd	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-11)	#292	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-8)	#195
Sun, May 24th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#433	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (15-4)	#37
Tue, May 26th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (5-10)	#70	@ BOS	Ranger Suarez (5-3)	#25
Wed, May 27th	@ SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)		@ BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#224
Thu, May 28th				@ BOS	Payton Tolle (8-6)	#26
Fri, May 29th	@ SEA	George Kirby (9-10)	#23	@ CIN	Chris Paddack (0-7)
Sat, May 30th	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (9-9)	#15	@ CIN	Brady Singer (5-12)	#135
Sun, May 31st	@ SEA	Bryce Miller (4-8)	#42	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-3)	#126
Tue, Jun 2nd	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (8-6)	#230	vs TOR	Kevin Gausman (7-11)	#27
Wed, Jun 3rd	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	vs TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)
Thu, Jun 4th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-5)	#133	vs TOR	Mason Fluharty (5-1)	#121
Fri, Jun 5th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (15-4)	#37	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-8)
Sat, Jun 6th	vs WSH	Zack Littell (8-8)	#330	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (13-5)	#29
Sun, Jun 7th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (12-5)	#61	vs PIT	Mason Montgomery (5-3)	#76
Tue, Jun 9th	@ MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)		@ CWS	Brandon Eisert (2-2)	#210
Wed, Jun 10th	@ MIA	Ryan Gusto (1-3)	#168	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-6)	#144
Fri, Jun 12th	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-3)	#126	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (9-8)	#34
Sat, Jun 13th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (6-8)	#234	@ NYM	Sean Manaea (4-6)	#62
Sun, Jun 14th	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-9)	#99	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (6-11)	#41
Wed, Jun 17th	vs LAA	Sam Aldegheri (3-4)	#430	vs SF	Carson Whisenhunt (3-4)
Fri, Jun 19th	vs MIN	Connor Prielipp (3-7)	#90	vs MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (14-5)	#6
Sat, Jun 20th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-6)	#40	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (10-3)	#57
Sun, Jun 21st	vs MIN	Mike Paredes (0-3)	#386	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (4-5)	#105
Mon, Jun 22nd	@ STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#293	@ SD	Michael King (8-9)	#51
Tue, Jun 23rd	@ STL	Kyle Leahy (10-4)	#100	@ SD	Wandy Peralta (2-2)	#188
Wed, Jun 24th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-12)	#81	@ SD	JP Sears (3-4)	#261
Fri, Jun 26th	@ TB	Nick Martinez (13-4)	#73	@ SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)
Sat, Jun 27th	@ TB	Cole Sulser		@ SF	Logan Webb (8-8)	#20
Sun, Jun 28th	@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (14-5)	#13	@ SF	Robbie Ray (11-7)	#87
Tue, Jun 30th	vs SF	Landen Roupp (8-13)	#74	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-12)	#81
Wed, Jul 1st	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)		vs STL	Michael McGreevy (5-9)	#86
Thu, Jul 2nd				vs STL	Dustin May (6-8)	#46
Fri, Jul 3rd	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (10-3)	#57	vs NYM	Christian Scott (4-4)	#56
Sat, Jul 4th	vs MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs NYM	Sean Manaea (4-6)	#62
Sun, Jul 5th	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)	#175	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (9-8)	#34
Mon, Jul 6th	@ SD	Walker Buehler (8-6)	#197	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (6-11)	#41
Tue, Jul 7th	@ SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#426	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-11)	#5
Wed, Jul 8th	@ SD	Michael King (8-9)	#51	@ PIT	Jared Jones (2-6)	#63
Thu, Jul 9th	@ SD	Griffin Canning (4-9)	#169	@ PIT	Mitch Keller (6-8)
Fri, Jul 10th	@ LAD	Kyle Hurt		@ STL	Kyle Leahy (10-4)	#100
Sat, Jul 11th	@ LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8)	#10	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-12)	#81
Sun, Jul 12th	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-8)	#110	@ STL	Dustin May (6-8)	#46
Fri, Jul 17th	vs STL	Michael McGreevy (5-9)	#86	vs TEX	Cal Quantrill (6-4)	#199
Sat, Jul 18th	vs STL	Dustin May (6-8)	#46	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (7-10)	#35
Sun, Jul 19th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#293	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-9)	#94
Mon, Jul 20th	vs ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-12)	#277	vs SD	JP Sears (3-4)	#261
Tue, Jul 21st	vs ATH	Jack Perkins (3-9)	#146	vs SD	Walker Buehler (8-6)	#197
Wed, Jul 22nd	vs ATH	Gage Jump (6-8)	#79	vs SD	Michael King (8-9)	#51
Thu, Jul 23rd	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (5-9)	#86	vs SD	Kyle Hart (0-3)	#153
Fri, Jul 24th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-2)	#355	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (9-9)	#55
Sat, Jul 25th	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (15-4)	#37	@ BAL	Brandon Young (9-3)	#165
Sun, Jul 26th	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-9)		@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-14)	#66
Mon, Jul 27th	@ PIT	Mitch Keller (6-8)		@ NYM	Zac Thornton (3-4)	#137
Wed, Jul 29th	@ PIT	Jared Jones (2-6)	#63	@ NYM	Christian Scott (4-4)	#56
Thu, Jul 30th				vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-8)	#195
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (5-14)	#52	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (15-4)	#37
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CLE	Parker Messick (10-8)	#31	vs WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-9)
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CLE	Gavin Williams (12-7)	#19	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (12-5)	#61
Tue, Aug 4th	vs SD	Randy Vasquez (10-6)	#232	vs MIA	Ryan Gusto (1-3)	#168
Wed, Aug 5th	vs SD	Casey Mize (5-8)	#38	vs MIA	Eury Perez (7-10)	#49
Thu, Aug 6th	vs SD	Walker Buehler (8-6)	#197	vs MIA	Janson Junk (6-8)	#124
Fri, Aug 7th	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (5-5)	#131	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-4)	#21
Sat, Aug 8th	vs LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8)	#10	@ NYY	Gerrit Cole (7-7)	#18
Sun, Aug 9th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-5)	#133	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (12-6)	#14
Mon, Aug 10th	vs COL	Gabriel Hughes (0-6)	#393	vs NYM	Christian Scott (4-4)	#56
Tue, Aug 11th	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8)	#435	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (9-8)	#34
Wed, Aug 12th	vs COL	Ryan Feltner (5-8)	#434	vs NYM	Zac Thornton (3-4)	#137
Fri, Aug 14th	@ ATL	Chris Sale (13-9)	#4	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (7-1)	#83
Sat, Aug 15th	@ ATL	Grant Holmes (9-5)	#205	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (14-4)	#88
Sun, Aug 16th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (8-7)	#194	vs ARI	Michael Soroka (8-4)	#104
Mon, Aug 17th	@ BOS	Alec Gamboa		@ MIN	Bailey Ober (7-4)	#77
Tue, Aug 18th	@ BOS	Ranger Suarez (5-3)	#25	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (8-8)	#115
Wed, Aug 19th	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (8-6)	#26	@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-6)	#40
Thu, Aug 20th				@ CWS	Anthony Kay (9-6)	#185
Fri, Aug 21st	vs CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-3)	#126	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (14-5)	#6
Sat, Aug 22nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (6-8)	#234	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (9-2)	#32
Sun, Aug 23rd	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-9)	#99	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (6-5)	#136
Tue, Aug 25th	vs CHC	Clay Holmes (5-6)	#58	vs LAD	Tyler Glasnow (3-0)	#16
Wed, Aug 26th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (8-3)	#45	vs LAD	Roki Sasaki (5-5)	#131
Thu, Aug 27th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (8-13)	#74	vs LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8)	#10
Fri, Aug 28th	@ SF	Blade Tidwell (0-1)	#179	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (12-8)	#435
Sat, Aug 29th	@ SF			vs COL	Ryan Feltner (5-8)	#434
Sun, Aug 30th				vs COL	Mason Adams (0-0)	#273
Mon, Aug 31st	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (5-10)	#47	vs SF	Adrian Houser (4-7)	#365
Tue, Sep 1st	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (12-5)	#9	@ WSH	Jake Irvin (2-8)	#195
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs PHI	Andrew Painter (3-8)	#206	@ WSH	Jackson Kent (1-2)	#186
Fri, Sep 4th	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#193	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (16-4)	#3
Sat, Sep 5th	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-7)	#172	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-5)	#11
Sun, Sep 6th	@ HOU	Hayden Wesneski (4-1)	#72	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (5-10)	#47
Mon, Sep 7th	@ KC	Noah Cameron (9-8)	#67	@ PHI	Jesus Luzardo (12-5)	#9
Tue, Sep 8th	@ KC			vs TB
Wed, Sep 9th	@ KC			vs TB
Thu, Sep 10th				vs TB
Fri, Sep 11th	vs TEX			vs PHI
Sat, Sep 12th	vs TEX			vs PHI
Sun, Sep 13th	vs TEX			vs PHI
Mon, Sep 14th	vs MIA			@ CHC
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIA			@ CHC
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIA			@ CHC
Fri, Sep 18th	vs NYY			@ HOU
Sat, Sep 19th	vs NYY			@ HOU
Sun, Sep 20th	vs NYY			@ HOU
Tue, Sep 22nd	@ COL			vs CIN
Wed, Sep 23rd	@ COL			vs CIN
Thu, Sep 24th	@ COL			vs CIN
Fri, Sep 25th	@ SD			@ MIA
Sat, Sep 26th	@ SD			@ MIA
Sun, Sep 27th	@ SD			@ MIA
Thu, Mar 26th	@ LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8)	#10
Thu, Apr 9th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (9-8)	#34
Thu, May 7th	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-8)
Mon, May 11th	@ TEX	Jakob Junis
Mon, May 25th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (8-13)	#74
Mon, Jun 1st	vs LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-8)	#110
Thu, Jun 11th	@ MIA	Tyler Phillips (3-6)	#229
Mon, Jun 15th	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (8-9)	#238
Tue, Jun 16th	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (4-8)	#43
Mon, Jun 29th	vs SF	Tyler Mahle (5-10)	#70
Tue, Jul 28th	@ PIT	Bubba Chandler (6-9)	#122
Mon, Aug 3rd	vs SD	Michael King (8-9)	#51
Mon, Aug 24th	vs CHC	Kevin Gausman (7-11)	#27

Who Should I Trade?

JR Ritchie for Merrill Kelly (2026)

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