While most players are expected to struggle immediately after returning from Tommy John surgery Owen Murphy has looked better than ever in his first couple of games back with the Rome Emperors. The Atlanta Braves 2022 first round pick has picked up right where he left off last season, and is making a case already for a late season call up to Double-A. He has yet to allow a run in three appearances this season and cruised through five hitless innings on Saturday.
(47-65) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (48-60) Columbus Clippers 2
Jarred Kelenic, CF: 1-4, 2B, .217/.288/.317Luke Waddell, SS: 1-4, 2B, RBI, .287/.392/.372Nathan Wiles, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 2.99 ERA
The 2025 version of the Gwinnett Stripers has seen worst offensive showings than their one run, five hit affair on Tuesday, but it’s pretty close to taking the title. They actually started the game off with a couple of hard hit balls in the first inning, but Luke Waddell hit his straight into the ground and Carlos Rodriguez’s hot shot went straight to the right fielder, ending a routine first inning. Those two batted balls were far and away the best struck balls the Stripers had through the first five innings as they limped out of the gates but were saved by a great pitching performance from Nathan Wiles. Cal Conley nearly gave them a leadoff double in the sixth inning, hitting a deep fly ball to the warning track in left center field, but the center fielder made an incredible sliding catch going back to the wall to rob the hit. He paid the price as well, as he jammed his knee into the concrete under the padding and had to be removed from the game. The Stripers were swinging early and often in these at bats, and as a result they couldn’t chase Clippers starter Austin Peterson from the game until the ninth inning. On the fourth time through the order they finally got two hard hit balls again, with Jarred Kelenic and Luke Waddell lacing back-to-back doubles which brought the game within a run and ended Peterson’s big for a shutout. Waddell was able to advance on a ground out from Rodriguez to move 90 feet from scoring the tying run, but was ultimately stranded and the Stripers lost a miserable 2-1 game.
Were it not for a magnificent game out of Nathan Wiles this could have been a lot uglier, but he was doing a great job of landing pitches just off of the plate and taking advantage of Clippers hitters who were willing to go fishing. He had particular success getting them to chase and miss his changeup, which provided the bulk of his swing-and-miss and allowed him to rack up nine strikeouts in just five innings of work. The only even reasonably hard contact came on a chopper in the first inning, otherwise Wiles allowed no hard hit balls and was in complete control of the game from pitch one. The moment he left the game flipped on its head. Zach Thompson walked the first batter he faced to create immediate trouble, then had a line drive sneak past the outstretched glove of Cal Conley for a hit. A jam-shot bloop single loaded the bases, and though Thompson was able to get the next three batters neither of the grounders hit were hard enough to turn two on so two runners were able to score to put Columbus in the lead.
(44-60) Columbus Clingstones 3, (36-70) Rocket City Trash Pandas 7
Jim Jarvis, 3B: 2-5, 2B, .250/.294/.344Patrick Clohisy, CF: 3-4, HR, BB, .406/.457/.594Drue Hackenberg, SP: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 8.31 ERA
It wasn’t a great start for Drue Hackenberg, but relative to the rest of his body of work since coming off of the injured this represents a significant step in the right direction for him. He had his ups and downs throughout his outing with his command, but overall was landing his sinker and curveball much better than he has in prior outings despite losing three guys on walks. Deep counts were really his nemesis this outing, as he would either get ahead of guys and then struggle to put them away or would fall behind and have to battle back in counts. He mostly limited hard contact, though especially in the fourth inning his cutter lived too much in the middle of the strike zone. He allowed a leadoff hit on a cutter (though he picked the guy off) then left a curveball in the strike zone that got tagged for a home run, representing the worst two batter sequence for him in the game. One mistake curveball in comparison to the amount he threw well this game isn’t going to jump off of the page, though it was the loudest play of the game, and Hackenberg’s numbers may not have shown it but this was definitely a step forward throughout his arsenal.
This game got off to a rocking start for the Clingstones offense, and it was all thanks to Patrick Clohisy who has been unbelievable since his promotion to Columbus. Clohisy got a first pitch fastball (in a left-on-left matchup) and he wasn’t going to wait to see anything else, sitting and turning on that pitch for a home run. Clohisy would reach base in three of his other four plate appearances, though the two weak ground balls (one that got beat out for a single) were far from his best contact. He made up for that by smoking a line drive single in the ninth inning to complete his three-hit showing, and so far in August he has already surpassed his July extra base hit total. The rest of the lineup struggled to string hits together, though Jim Jarvis did have a two-hit day. His strikeouts have been pretty high so far this month for the Clingstones – this is already his second-highest strikeout month and three off of his season high for a month – but he has three doubles so far and dating back to his last few games prior to the trade he has started getting extra base hits far more often than in his previous month and a half. In his last 14 games between the two systems he has seven total extra base hits, and he has reached base in all 14 of those games. Speaking of on-base streaks, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. eked out a walk in this game to extend his streak to 16 games. Kilpatrick has been awful this season, but has been known in the past to go on crazy streaks and seems to be in the midst of one. Since the all star break he has cut his strikeout rate to just a hair over 20%, and while he hasn’t drawn many walks and is relying on a high BABIP, this is easily his best Double-A stretch both in contact and power. He went from June 8th through the all star break without an extra base hit, but since then has four extra base hits.
(44-61) Rome Emperors 0, (54-53) Greenville Drive 1
Colby Jones, SS: 0-4, .294/.351/.324Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-4, .265/.306/.294Owen Murphy, SP: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERAIsaac Gallegos, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.66 ERA
You’re not really supposed to be as good as Owen Murphy is this soon after Tommy John surgery. He hasn’t been perfect, and as expected has been spraying his fastball at the zone a bit, and he was especially wild early in this game. Murphy was struggling to land anything close in the first couple of innings, but after the third inning he locked in with all of his pitches and started to dominate the game with weak contact and solid secondary pitches. The Drive weren’t missing his fastballs much when they swung, but they were swinging at the top of the strike zone and weren’t able to get center on the ball instead popping the ball up a lot. Murphy was able to drop in some impressive sliders in the later innings after really missing high with them early, using that to get whiffs more than he did in most games last season. He integrated a slow curveball in the mid-70’s quite a lot the second time through the batting order, getting a mix of whiffs and called strikes that made that his most effective pitch in limited usage. Murphy’s command, especially early in outings, isn’t quite where it was last season and might not be ready for Double-A just yet, but he is showing flashes of being too good for hitters at the High-A level. With one or two more good outings, especially if his fastball location can improve quickly, he may force the Braves hand and earn a call up for the last few starts of the season. His velocity across his pitches has been steady and he hasn’t been seeing a dip late into games, which is a great sign for him moving forward.
For as good as Murphy and the pitching staff looked, there was not much positive to take away from the Emperors on offense. The prospects in this game didn’t look particularly great, and when they did get opportunities the team went 0-7 with runners in scoring position. The most egregious offense came in the seventh inning when a walk to Justin Janas and an Ambioris Tavarez hit by pitch had two runners on base with no outs, only for the next three hitters fail to come through in a 0-0 game. Tyler Tolve cracked a fly ball to center field that did advance Janas to third base, but a shallow fly out and a weak ground out ensured the game stayed tied. Isaiah Drake had a tough assignment with three at bats against lefty starter Shea Sprague, and he held his own well enough. He had a great at bat in the first inning that ended with a ground out over to the left side, then in the second at bat hooked a ball and floated it into right field for a hit. He rolled over a pitch in his third at bat, then in his final plate appearance worked a deep count but struck out with a runner in scoring position. Drake has not been able to get much power going and is struggling a bit against pitchers that are able to locate better, but so far in a small sample he has been able to make plenty of contact since his promotion.
(55-49) Augusta GreenJackets 11, (56-49) Charleston RiverDogs 2
Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, 2B, BB, RBI, .251/.356/.403John Gil, SS: 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .242/.332/.342Owen Carey, LF: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .261/.336/.342Rayven Antonio, SP: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 3.32 ERAJacob Schafer, RP: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2.70 ERA
All of the offense for Saturday got saved for one game, and what a beautiful breakout it was for John Gil. Gil’s season has been marked by pretty poor contact quality and power production overall, but his swing and approach has been making steady strides for a fair while now. Entering this game his power production was sitting around league average since the start of June, but since July 1st he has really come into his own with a .145 isolated power and a 14% strikeout rate entering Saturday. Then he went 3-5 with two home runs, and even this late in the season it made a huge impact in his numbers. He just missed one in the first inning with a loud fly out to left field, but his second time up he made the pitcher pay for leaving a first pitch fastball over the zone, clearing the wall in left for a two-run home run. He snuck a single up the in his next at bat for his second hit before capping off his day by mashing another home run in the seventh inning. Suddenly he went from two to four home runs on the season, and his already impressive numbers since July 1st jumped to incredible levels. Gil is now hitting .283/.353/.517 with a 13% strikeout rate and seven XBH in his 16 games since the start of July, and even if you extend it back a month to reduce the impact of this game the numbers are fantastic. Since June 1st he has played in 38 games with 13 extra base hits (3 HR), 12.8% walk rate, 10.5% strikeout rate, and a .219/.324/.356 line despite only a .229 BABIP.
Gil wasn’t the only hitter in Augusta’s lineup, and of course Eric Hartman and Owen Carey had to have their hands on this game. Hartman smoked a curveball that stayed in the strike for a first inning double, leading to the game’s first run, though he didn’t make much noise afterwards. Hartman has been rock solid at the top of the lineup since coming back from injury at the start of July, maintaining a strong power/contact pace. He’s hitting .293/.366/.465 in that 26 game span, and has done a great job cutting down strikeouts in the leadoff spot with an 18.6% strikeout rate since returning. Owen Carey drove in that first run of the game, ripping a double into the gap to score Hartman. Carey backed that up with another double and a single later in the game, and in the eighth inning he hit a sharp fly ball that the right fielder was able to track down. Carey was quiet for awhile and his power numbers have dipped since earlier in the season, but since the start of August he has picked up the pace. He has hit safely in seven of his past eight games with only three strikeouts in that span, and he has nine hits in his past four games.
On the mound the GreenJackets turned to Rayven Antonio, who for the third time in four outings struggled especially with his command. This wasn’t a complete blow up for him and he was able to make competitive pitches, he just hasn’t had his stuff lately and it’s likely the point in the season that fatigue is really starting to wear him down. He has nearly doubled his career high in innings pitched and pitches thrown at this point, so a little bit of wear is not a major red flag for him. Hopefully he can end the season strong, but if he does have a tough month it probably shouldn’t be held against him as long as he can come out next season and pitch a bit deeper with good results. Overall he has been incredible this season and it sucks to see him hit a poor spell like this, but he has maintained his stuff and seems poised to take another step next season. Jacob Shafer’s work out of the bullpen was massive this game, as he dominated to keep the score at two runs through the middle innings while the offense pulled away. Shafer has been out most of the season with injury and was a bit shaky his first two times out, but he throws a sharp slider that comes in only 4-5 mph below his fastball that should be a very effective pitch at any level.
(19-28) DSL Braves 2, (22-25) DSL Royals Fortuna 4
Angel Carmona, SS: 1-4, BB, .222/.338/.370Manuel Campos, 2B: 2-4, BB, .266/.376/.349
It really feels like the DSL Braves should have won this game, with three more baserunners, an extra stolen base, and an extra hit with runners in scoring position than the Royals, but they ended up falling two runs short thanks to a two-run rally in the ninth inning. Manuel Campos had another big day at the plate with two hits and a walk, giving him a three game run with eight hits, a walk, and three extra base hits. Campos has been the most consistent bat on this team all season, and while the walk numbers are lower than you like to see from prospects at this level he has hit for reasonable power with good contact all year. Angel Carmona reached base twice, and he has been solid since returning to action especially since the start of August. He has seven hits and six walks in his past six games, and while the strikeouts would ideally be lower than they are the amount of time he missed does excuse that a bit and the contact quality has reportedly been impressive.