One of Atlanta’s top prospects to undergo Tommy John surgery

The Atlanta Braves are losing one of their best young pitchers.

And it’s a shame too, because it was on a radiator.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline broke the news this afternoon, this pitch prospect Owen Murphy is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2024 booster period and some time in 2025. The exact date of the surgery is unknown at this time, but it is expected to take place with Dallas-based Dr. Keith Meister.

Murphy, 20, was Atlanta’s first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, going 20th overall out of Riverside, Illinois. He spent all of 2023 in the lower minors, primarily with Single-A Augusta, and finished the season with a 6-4 record and a 4.72 ERA. In his 21 starts and just under ninety innings, he struck out 113 batters (11.3 K/9) while walking thirty-two (3.2 BB/9).

Placed in High-A Rome to start this season, Murphy was electric, going 4-2 with a 1.54 ERA in his first seven starts of the season. Averaging nearly six innings per start, he pitched forty-one innings with sixty strikeouts (13.2 K/9) to just twelve walks (2.6 BB/9).

MLB Pipeline rates him as Atlanta’s No. 5 prospectplacing him behind compatriot JR Ritchie, who underwent Tommy John surgery last May and has yet to return to minor league competition.

Atlanta is currently dealing with several pitchers throughout the organization who are out after elbow surgery. Blake Burkhalter, a 2022 2nd rounder from neighboring Auburn University, made his 2024 debut with Atlanta’s Complex-Level team on Monday after requiring Tommy John surgery last spring. Former major league starter Ian Anderson is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in the second half of the season, as is Huascar Ynoa.