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Hitters may spend hours in the batting cage, hours analyzing video, hours with high-dollar performance coaches, hitting coaches and strength coaches 鈥� to reach their goals.

It requires dedication, hard work and perseverance.

Or, maybe hitters can do what Ryan Ritter 鈥� the hottest hitter on the planet over the past couple of weeks 鈥� has been doing.

鈥淚 have a toothpick that鈥檚 always in my back pocket,鈥� said Ritter, the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Isotopes shortstop who is the back-to-back reigning Pacific Coast League Player of the Week and in back-to-back games Sunday and Tuesday became the first Isotopes player to hit five home runs in two games.

Don鈥檛 get things twisted. The 24-year-old Ritter, who entered Wednesday鈥檚 game against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys on a mind-boggling 11-game extra base hitting streak, has absolutely put in the work. (He went 1-for-4 on Wednesday, with a single and a walk.) Hours and hours of it 鈥� in the field and in the cage 鈥� trying to work his way into position to achieve his dream of being called up to the major leagues.

But ask the 2022 fourth-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies if he鈥檚 willing to rely solely on all that work preparing for his next at-bat and leave that good luck toothpick in the dugout, and you might as well be asking for a fight.

It ain鈥檛 happening.

鈥淩outine slash superstition,鈥� Ritter said, explaining why he鈥檚 been so hot with the bat in his hands of late. 鈥淚 know what I need to do and I know what I want to do to feel prepared.鈥�

And that includes never playing a game without that lucky toothpick, and not one of the old-school wooden kinds at the cash register of a small-town diner, either. Ritter is all about what is more appropriately called a dental floss pick 鈥� a small plastic contraption with a point at one end and a curve with a small strip of dental floss at the other end.

You see, inside any professional baseball clubhouse, and inside the mind of many a professional baseball player, live some of the most obsessive, quirky, seemingly absurd superstitions.

鈥淚 have way too many,鈥� Ritter said. 鈥淟ike, I have one where I鈥檓 driving here (to Isotopes Park), and I take a long, long turn (on one particular road) and then get back into the right lane. It might be illegal, I don鈥檛 know. Just putting my left sock on (first every day). Have a toothpick that鈥檚 always in my back pocket now. I could tell you a lot, but it鈥檚, it鈥檚 just fun. It鈥檚 part of it.鈥�

Ritter knows how it sounds. And he doesn鈥檛 care.

Why should he? Everything is working at the moment.

Entering Wednesday鈥檚 game against Sugar Land, Ritter鈥檚 name was atop pretty much every offensive category of substance for the month of May in the Pacific Coast League:

鈥� Home runs: 1st (10)

鈥� Doubles: 1st (10)

鈥� Total bases: 1st (75)

鈥� Hits: tied-1st (31)

鈥� OPS: 1st (1.333)

鈥� Slugging: 1st (.904)

鈥� RBIs: 2nd (24)

With numbers like that, new Isotopes hitting coach Aaron Mu帽oz is just trying not to get in the way. And he sees nothing wrong with Ritter鈥檚 need to have a toothpick as a security blanket.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 beauty of it,鈥� Mu帽oz said. 鈥淚 guess you guys call it superstition, but that鈥檚 we call routine sometimes, right? And that鈥檚 how you stay in the flow of things, especially in baseball. It鈥檚 a long (season), you know? You kind of want to continue the same routine throughout each day and continue to work.鈥�

For Mu帽oz, who is just in his second week on the job with the Topes (though he鈥檚 been with the organization for more than a decade), he鈥檚 all about helping Ritter in any way possible with his swing, his approach to pitchers, or even with a quick trip to the drug store.

鈥淚 better go get some of those (toothpicks) and keep them in my back pocket just in case,鈥� Mu帽oz said.