Owen Murphy returns to Chicago to possibly pitch against hometown Cubs
When Owen Murphy called his mother to inform her he had been called up to pitch for the Braves this week, she wasn’t having it.
“She thought I was pranking her,” Murphy said Monday. “I called her and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to Chicago. I’m coming home. I can come say hi to you.’ And she was like, ‘Are you joking? You’re joking. You’re kidding with me.’ And she just wouldn’t believe it until finally everything (the news) broke. So yeah, it’s been pretty fun.”
Murphy’s MLB debut came earlier this summer, pitching in relief July 6 against the Mets at Truist Park. He made two more appearances with the Braves, then was sent back to Triple-A Gwinnett.
His return to the big-league roster wasn’t entirely unexpected, given that he’s the organization’s No. 10-ranked overall prospect, according to MLB.com. But that the stars aligned for that return to be at Wrigley Field, about 20 miles northeast of where Murphy graduated high school?
“My first time (going to Wrigley Field) I think I was like 6 or 7 years old?” Murphy said, adding former Cubs All-Star and current Rockies third baseman Kris Bryant was his favorite player. “Every single time I come it just feels different. Walking out on that field for the first time, it’ll be something special. My mom is super excited, she’s a huge Cubs fan since she was super young. We love the Cubs and I loved ‘em growing up.
“Now being able to play here at Wrigley and play here against ‘em is super exciting.”
Murphy did not appear in Monday’s 7-3 loss for the Braves against the Cubs. That means he has two chances left to get into a game.
And he will come out of the bullpen, with Martín Pérez scheduled to start Tuesday’s matchup and fellow rookie JR Ritchie having been announced as Wednesday’s starter. At Triple-A Gwinnett this season, all 18 of Murphy’s appearances were starts.
Manager Walt Weiss said Murphy will be called upon if the Braves need to eat some innings during Tuesday or Wednesday’s games.
“I’m just kind of here filling a role,” Murphy said. “When they call my name, they call my name.”
Murphy had some tough luck in his three outings with the Braves in July. Of the five runs he allowed over 6⅔ innings, only three were earned. His debut came in the 10th inning of a 5-5 game that the Braves lost, 7-6, to the Rangers after Murphy allowed a two-out, two-run double that proved to be the difference.
But after returning to Gwinnett, the young right-hander pitched to a 1.73 ERA over seven starts while holding the opposition to a .183 batting average. He gave up one run over his last two starts (12⅓ innings).
“Going back and everything, just wanting to put up a good start every week, get our guys back in the dugout. Nothing really changed,” Murphy said. “Just consistency stuff, all that kind of stuff, making sure the pitch shapes are cleaning up, all the normal pitcher stuff that you usually hear.”
Not only could Murphy be pitching this week in a venue he came to as a kid, his innings will hold significant weight as the Braves try to lock up a postseason berth (which could happen as early as Wednesday) and inch closer to clinching the National League East (that can’t come until this weekend in Houston). He seemed ready to welcome that challenge.
“It’s a different beast up here. You gotta compete every single pitch. You can’t take anything off,” Murphy said. “One thing I learned from my starts and my times out of the bullpen is just, like, how to adapt to those situations.
“It’s been a lot of, like, growing-up type of things that I’ve had to go through, which has been great. This year has been so awesome to be a part of it. To be a part of a team like this, it’s so special.”