Ritz had his big break when he joined the Rockies in 1994, where he found some success in his career. He was a member of the first Colorado Rockies team to reach the playoffs. This came in the 1995 season. His best season was in 1996, when he went 17-11 in 213 innings pitched, despite recording a high ERA of 5.28 in hitter-friendly Coors Field and leading the National League in Earned Runs Allowed (125). That year, Ritz won 10 games before the All Star break; the only other Rockies pitchers to have done so through 2010 were Shawn Chacón (2003), Aaron Cook (2008), Jason Marquis (2009), and Ubaldo Jiménez (2010).[3]
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