Braves Pencil in Prospect for First Career Start

When the regular season resumes this weekend, an Atlanta Braves prospect will be preparing for a major career moment.

The team announced their rotation for the upcoming series against the Texas Rangers. Chris Sale will start things off on Friday and Grant Holmes will pitch on Sunday.

In between on Saturday, Owen Murphy will get his first career start in the major leagues.

There have been no announced updates that have coincided with this decision. 

Murphy has made two appearances in the major leagues with the second impressing ahead of the break. He pitched three perfect innings on Saturday while striking out three. Thirty-five of his 47 pitches (74.4% for strikes). 

The Braves are looking to see who can stick as they assess all their options for the starting rotation. Multiple starters are recovering from injuries, including Spencer Strider and Martín Pérez. The latter is eligible to be activated next week.

JR Ritchie is showing he fits best at this time in a long-relief role, and we have to wait and see what external additions they may bring in. 

The door is wide open for Murphy to get his chance. 

He is the No. 5 prospect in the system, and has reached the majors this season after starting the season in Double-A. He can say he’s made his debut at three different levels this season.

Murphy finished last season with High-Rome after being activated from the injured list. He had been recovering from Tommy John surgery. 

The Braves are in a position where they have a fresh start after the All-Star break. Every arm is fresh, and they can set up the pitching staff in any way they please for the first few days back.

Any other moves they make ahead of the Rangers series are to be determined. Action will resume when the aforementioned Friday game gets underway. 

First pitch for that game is set for 7:15 p.m. 

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