CINCINNATI -- While JR Ritchie recovers from Tommy John surgery, Owen Murphy is keeping the Braves excited about who they selected in the first round of last summer’s MLB Draft.

Murphy, the Braves' No. 2 prospect, produced the most impressive start of his young career on Friday when he struck out 12 of the 20 batters he faced for Single-A Augusta. The 19-year-old right-hander allowed one run, surrendered three hits and didn’t issue a walk over 5 2/3 innings against Delmarva.

This was an encouraging development for Murphy, who entered Friday having struck out three batters or less in each of his previous three starts. Many young pitchers begin to deal with a dead-arm stretch around this time of year, so there wasn’t any cause for alarm. But it was still good to see the young hurler get back on track after a few rough outings.

As Murphy progresses through his first full professional season, the Braves are having him start once every seven days. He has completed at least five innings just three times, but two of those instances were his past two starts.

Murphy has a 4.65 ERA through 11 starts. There’s still plenty of room to improve, as he has allowed 40 hits (including seven homers) over 40 2/3 innings. He has a 29.4 percent strikeout rate and a 9.4 percent walk rate.

The Braves took Murphy and Ritchie in the first round of last summer’s MLB Draft. Ritchie made four starts for Augusta before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

Here's what's going on around the rest of the Braves' affiliates:

Triple-A Gwinnett: Michael Soroka has posted a 1.42 ERA and limited opponents to a .230 on-base percentage in the three starts he’s made since being sent back down June 5. Soroka was an out away from a seven-inning no-hitter when he allowed a homer to Jacksonville’s Austin Allen on Thursday. Another pitcher to keep an eye on is Allan Winans, who has allowed one earned run or less while completing at least seven innings in three of his past four starts.

Double-A Mississippi: Drew Lugbauer is hitting .271 with 12 homers and a .986 OPS. That seems to be progress, given that he had a .784 OPS in 2021 and a .771 OPS in '22 at the Double-A level. He is still whiffing at a high rate, but his 36.4 percent strikeout rate is down from 38.2 percent last year.

High-A Rome: Kevin Kilpatrick tallied consecutive three-hit games on June 15 and 16. But the 22-year-old outfielder from suburban Atlanta entered Sunday hitless in the 28 at-bats that have followed. This is the first full professional season for Kilpatrick, who was taken out of the College of Central Florida in the 17th round of last summer’s Draft. He is 16-for-20 in stolen-base attempts and he has a .676 OPS in a team-high 294 plate appearances.

Single-A Augusta: Spencer Schwellenbach has posted a 2.76 ERA through the first 12 starts of his professional career. The 23-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs or less while completing at least six innings in both of his past two starts. He was selected in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Nebraska and underwent Tommy John surgery a few weeks later.