Atlanta Braves prospect Owen Murphy has worked extremely hard to get himself back into pitching well after losing almost two years to Tommy John rehab. He returned towards the end of the 2025 season and impressed over 30.1 innings. Murphy issued six walks and struck out 34, with a 0.77 WHIP. Not too shabby for a return from Tommy John surgery, but still too small a sample size to know how well he'd do over a full season.
Murphy looked pretty good during spring training with a 2.25 ERA over four innings with one walk and six strikeouts. Unfortunately, that hasn't carried over for him during the regular season.
Owen Murphy spins a pair of scoreless frames with 3 punchouts -- all on breaking balls -- for the @Braves.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 25, 2026
The 2022 first-rounder is a non-roster invitee after posting a 1.32 ERA in six starts at High-A last season: pic.twitter.com/dgr3uH15hU
Owen Murphy did not have a good time during Triple-A debut
The young righty began 2026 with Double-A Columbus and struggled over 20.2 innings with 18 walks and 27 strikeouts. It's disappointing considering how dominant he was in his season debut, where he struck out 10 batters over 5.2 innings. The Braves opted to promote him to Triple-A Gwinnett, despite his rough start to the season.
Murphy's first shot with the Stripers was extremely tough to watch. Murphy lasted four innings and allowed five earned runs on six hits (two homers). He threw 83 pitches, with three walks and two strikeouts.
Atlanta doesn't want to see that out of their sixth-best prospect, who was drafted just four years ago. However, it's necessary to see if he can handle the competition. It's also still very early in the season, and he's not pitched in a full season in a while.
There was hope that he would return from his elbow surgery and follow a similar path to that of JR Ritchie. Ritchie came back strong and is now pitching at the big league level. Unfortunately, Murphy has struggled to get his velocity back to pre-injury levels. It sits in the low-90s now, and that's going to take some adjustment. Fans are already seeing how hard that can be with Spencer Strider's struggles against the Rockies on Sunday.
Murphy will need to be more consistent, throw strikes, and cut down on walks. Surely some of that is coming from knowing his fastball can't be in the zone too much, or it will be crushed. The good thing for him is that he has plenty of time to work on things and try to prove he can still be successful. Atlanta has found a way to piece together a decent rotation this season. Now, they need to stay healthy.
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