Chris Sale gives JR Ritchie the ultimate compliment

JR Ritchie has made two starts — both wins for the Atlanta Braves — and flashed a few things that show exactly why he was regarded as a top-100 prospect by every major outlet.

The repertoire is immense. Ritchie features a legitimate six-pitch mix, using all of them at least 5% of the time. But his greatest tool might not be any one pitch — it’s his mental fortitude, already showing the poise of a ten-year veteran, even when things aren’t going smoothly.

“I’ve talked about his composure a lot, that’s what sticks out to me,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “He looks pretty unflappable as a young kid in this league and that’s going to serve him as he puts together a career here.”

There’s no better example than Ritchie’s MLB debut. On the very first pitch of his career, he gave up a moonshot into the bleachers off the bat of James Wood. It was the definition of a “Welcome to the MLB” moment, but he responded by going seven innings and allowing just two runs.

In his most recent outing, that mental toughness was tested again. Ritchie didn’t have anywhere close to his best stuff, scattering four walks against a legitimate American League contender in the Tigers. That’s usually a recipe for disaster, but he still found a way to grind into the sixth inning while keeping the Braves within striking distance — setting the stage for a ninth-inning walk-off, courtesy of a Matt Olson two-run homer.

Some of that poise is natural, but more often than not, it’s ingrained through preparation — something Chris Sale has been quick to point out.

“You can ask my wife, I’ve been talking about Ritchie since last summer,” Braves ace Chris Sale said. “Every time I showed up [while rehabbing] in Gwinnett last year, he was doing something to get better at baseball. That’s always going to put some chips in my bag.”

Next week, that poise will face a different kind of test. The Braves haven’t announced starters for their upcoming series with the Seattle Mariners, but the expectation is Ritchie — a Seattle native who grew up a diehard Mariners fan — will take the mound.

Atlanta has produced more young arms than just about anyone over the last 35 years. That’s been especially evident over the past five, with guys like Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and AJ Smith-Shawver all arriving and making immediate impacts.

Now it’s Ritchie’s turn — and the scary part is, there might be even more coming behind him.