Ryan Ritter Named Preseason All-American
Kentucky shortstop Ryan Ritter has been named to the D1Baseball.com Third-Team Preseason All-America Team, it has been announced. Ritter is arguably the nation’s top defensive shortstop and shined at the plate in the famed Cape Cod Baseball League last summer.
“Ritter is the most talented defensive shortstop in America, a human highlight reel who can make all the plays and takes good care of the baseball,” D1’s Aaron Fitt wrote. “He’s also made dramatic offensive improvements since arriving as a juco transfer in the fall of 2020, and his strong performance on the Cape and in fall ball (when he hit over .400) portend big things to come this spring.
Last season at Kentucky he started all 52 games at shortstop and batted .275 in 178 at-bats with 21 runs, 49 hits, five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 11 walks and three hit by pitch. He drove in 20 runs, stole eight bases in eight attempts and added a team-high six sacrifices and three sacrifice flies. Ritter had a .323 on-base percentage and six of his stolen bases came in SEC play. He claimed his first hit in the season opener vs. Miami (Ohio).
He had the only four-hit game by a UK player in 2021 on Mar.16 vs. Murray State, then delivered a virtuoso performance in a win at No.5 Louisville on Apr.6 where he went 3-for-4 with three runs, a double, a home run and six RBI while also delivering three dazzling defensive plays that saved at least three runs. It was just the seventh time since the beginning of the 2011 season a Wildcat had 6+ RBI. He Had 13 multi-hit games overall, eight in SEC play and did not make an error over his final 25 games (85 chances).
Last summer, he appeared in 34 games, including three playoff contests, for Cotuit and ranked fourth in the league in batting during the regular season with a .330 mark. He scored 19 runs, drove in eight, had four doubles, one triple and one home run, walked 15 times and stole three bases as part of a .410 on-base percentage. Ritter exploded over the final few weeks of the season, turning in a 12-game hit streak that included seven multi-hit games.
Ritter is considered one of the top prospects in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft.
The Cats are entering their sixth season under head coach Nick Mingione and have won 143 games during his tenure, including a 29-win season in 2021. The Wildcats added eight Division I-A transfers during the offseason and boast one of the deepest pitching staffs in recent memory with the return of the entire weekend rotation, talented bullpen and experienced transfers.
