'I get to sit with Mike Trout on the bus!' JR Ritchie's MLB Draft adventure just got more interesting

JR Ritchie's plans were expected to be low-key, likely a round of golf at local Meadowmeer Golf & Country Club on Bainbridge Island with his father and a couple of others Sunday afternoon.

It's the same day as the start of the 2022 MLB Draft in Los Angeles. Ritchie, the expected top prospect from Washington as a right-handed pitcher from Bainbridge High School, is expected to be selected likely somewhere in the first three rounds.

One phone call changed Ritchie’s weekend plans.

"MLB called and invited me down to the draft," Ritchie said. "In 72 hours, I’ll be flying into L.A."

Those potential high draft picks invited by MLB officials will get a major indoctrination into the world of professional sports - including Ritchie, who will be among those sitting in the 'green room' during the draft.

And when he hears his named called, he will now have an opportunity to walk to the stage and claim the jersey of his potential new MLB team - if he decides to sign with the club this summer.

But Ritchie said he hasn’t made any such decision.

"For the longest time, most of the (MLB) teams thought I was unsignable," Ritchie said. "For a while, I was set on going to school."

UCLA does await, should Ritchie go that way on his decision. If he decides on college, he’ll spend the next few years pitching and playing for the Bruins. That was the no-brainer move that Ritchie had determined to make for much of his time at Bainbridge.

But over the past year or so, as the former Spartans standout has developed and his professional stock has continued to rise, the possibility of going pro has become more of an option.

"I just didn’t feel like I was ready to start a professional career," Ritchie said. "It’s only been in the last year that my parents and I have found out, maybe I am ready mentally and physically to start my career."

After the MLB Draft, Ritchie has until Aug. 1 to sign a professional deal - or then go off to UCLA in mid-September.

What Ritchie wasn’t going to do was pass up the opportunity to be at the MLB Draft in person.

"Actually, at first I was reluctant to go," Ritchie said. "I thought it was just going to be sitting in green room and waiting for my name to be called."

Ritchie will get to experience a little more than that.

"We get to ride on the bus with all of the All-Stars (the MLB All-Star game is happening at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday), stay in the same hotel as the All-Stars," Ritchie said. "We get tickets to the Home Run Derby and the (All-Star) Game. I was like, 'Oh, I’m absolutely going.'"

The invitation might also be an indication that Ritchie’s stock may still on the rise. Prospectslive.com rates Ritchie as the No. 39 overall prospect in the 2022 draft.

Ritchie, whose high school career was cut short after testing positive for COVID-19 right before the Spartans' regional-round games of the Class 3A tournament, said he was pleased with how things went at the recent draft combine - both with how he threw and the team interview process.

"I think I handled myself well," Ritchie said.

The feedback from those teams, in part, prompted the MLB Draft/All-Star Game invite, Ritchie said, and completely changed his plans from low-key to fast-track.

"This got real really fast," Ritchie said.

"It probably makes the decision harder. I know that going down there makes it look like I’m going to sign. But I’m not going because of that - I get to sit with Mike Trout on the bus! How often do you get that opportunity?"