Owen Murphy - 2/21/23

An in-depth look at the Braves 2022 first-round pick

Prospect Spotlight 🔦

Owen Murphy RHP – Age: 19 – B/T: R/R, 6’1’’ / 190 – Braves (Low-A)

• Born: 9/27/2003 (Chicago, IL)

• Draft: 2022, Atlanta Braves, 1^st Round.

• High School: Riverside-Brookfield, Riverside, IL

Entering the 2022 high school baseball season, Owen Murphy was seen as one of the better high school pitchers in the class, but not necessarily a consensus first round pick. After adding a couple ticks of velocity to sit consistently in the low 90’s and retaining his feel for his plus off-speed stuff — he popped. Murphy tore up Illinois high school baseball, winning Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year and posting a 0.12 ERA in 58.1 innings, striking out 137 batters in the process. He also hit .548 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI at the plate, and committed as a two-way player at Notre Dame. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, Murphy was selected in the first round by the Atlanta Braves and signed for $2.56 million, roughly 850k under slot.

Murphy weighs in at 6’1’’ and 190 pounds, which caused some evaluators to question how much physical projection is left. Murphy is a plus athlete and it really shows on the mound, where he had one of the cleanest sets of mechanics in the draft. He’s in-line throughout the entire delivery, maximizes torso rotation, gets depth in his back hip load, and has a strong lead leg block — all while using minimal effort throughout. Unsurprisingly, his plus mechanics and athleticism allow him to have plus command of his pitches. He issued six walks in seven innings in his first taste of A-ball, but there’s a good chance he’ll self-correct after an offseason ahead of his his full season debut.