The Atlanta Braves have announced a promotion for yet another first-round pick. 2023 first-round pick, Hurston Waldrep, was promoted from Augusta to Rome after just one start. This time it was Atlanta's first-round pick from 2022, Owen Murphy, getting promoted to High-A Rome.
Murphy is considered one of Atlanta's top prospects and is currently listed as the 5th best in the organization's system. He is ranked behind A.J. Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Cade Kuehler.
Rome is now Prospect City ™️
— Rome Braves (@TheRomeBraves) August 22, 2023
'22 First Round Pick and No.5 overall prospect Owen Murphy has been called up to Rome.#RaisedInRome | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/lSLN8ps2H9
He has a 60-grade fastball, 50-grade curveball, 55-grade slider, and 50-grade changeup as his main pitch mix and is rated at 55 for control. His fastball is his plus pitch and sits in the low 90s range. His secondary pitches have needed some development and once he does that, he has the potential to be a big part of the Braves future rotation.
Murphy is just 19 years old so he still has some development time ahead of him. He is projected to be in the big leagues by 2026 but we all know that can change in a heartbeat.
His promotion to High-A Rome comes after a nice stint with the Augusta GreenJackets. Murphy flirted with throwing a no-hitter with Augusta a little over a week ago. He took the no-hitter into the seventh inning but a lead-off triple from the opposing team ended that bid for him and he would exit the game after striking out the next batter.
No. 5 @Braves prospect Owen Murphy takes a no-hit bid into the 7th inning, racking up 8 K's along the way for the @GreenJackets: pic.twitter.com/YWrUrqTMkw
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 12, 2023
Overall in Augusta this season, he has a 6-3 record through 18 games with a 4.71 ERA. In 72.2 innings pitched he's allowed 62 hits including 8 home runs and walked 28 batters while striking out 97 of them. Opponents were batting .227 against him in 2023 as well.
The month of August has been impressive for him as he's struck out 26 batters through 16.1 innings and a .184 batting average against. On August 14th, he earned Player of the Week honors for the Carolina League.
He led Augusta in innings pitched and strikeouts this year. Through 21 career games there, he struck out 107 batters and featured a 1.27 WHIP.
You can certainly see the potential for Owen Murphy and he could be a great middle-of-the-rotation option for the Braves in the future.