NORTH PORT, FL – MARCH 16: Eric Hartman #64 of the Atlanta Braves singles in the seventh inning during the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park on Sunday, March 16, 2025 in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Eric Hartman will get most of the headlines for his historic achievement — seeing as though we’re not even at the break yet — and rightfully so. But the pitching down on the farm was downright excellent as well on Wednesday. So, without further ado, let’s break down what happened.
(42-40) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (34-49) Durham Bulls 1
Luke Williams, 3B: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-5
DaShawn Kiersey Jr., CF: 2-4, 2 R
Brewer Hicklen, RF: 1-3, 2 RBI
Owen Murphy, SP: 6 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K
Box Score
Owen Murphy continues to make his case as the next arm to be called up to the big league roster as the 22-year-old spun a gem to lead Gwinnett to a win.
In six innings of work, Murphy allowed just three baserunners — two via hit and one via walk — while striking out seven in the process. With his start, Murphy lowered his season ERA to 3.88 on the year. To date, it is Murphy’s best start with Gwinnett as he appears to finally have gotten his footing underneath him.
Murphy’s fastball averaged 92.6 MPH with a solid chase rate of 31.8%. He’s clearly ready for the big leagues, but with the trade deadline looming, perhaps the Braves keep him in triple-A to boost his value with more solid starts in the event they use him as a trade chip. Either way, Murphy is on the right track and if he is still with the team after the deadline, he will be in Atlanta soon thereafter.
OWEN MURPHY GEM. TEAM USA UP. WHO HAS IT BETTER THAN US??6 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 7 K pic.twitter.com/j7LE2IJYjc— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) July 2, 2026
While Murphy was dealing, his offense provided him with a solid night at the plate as well.
The Stripers wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard, scoring three times in the top of the first. Brewer Hicklen plated the first run of the game courtesy of an RBI-single to score DaShawn Kiersey Jr. Aaron Schunk followed that up with an RBI-double as well to score Brett Wisely, while Hicklen later came around to score on an RBI-groundout off the bat of Jose Azocar.
As for Hicklen, his good approach at the plate continues and he’s been rewarded as he is hitting .306 with an OPS of .884, which leads Gwinnett among qualified hitters.
(33-39) Columbus Clingstones 8, (44-33) Tennessee Smokies 3
Patrick Clohisy, CF: 3-4, 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB
Drew Compton, 1B: 3-4, 3B, 4 RBI
Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-4, 2B, RBI, BB
Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 6 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K
Box Score
Cedric De Grandpre and Owen Murphy must have had a competition going to see who could have the best outing between them on Wednesday. As fate would have it, the two righthanders posted the exact same line of six innings pitched, two hits allowed, one walk issued and seven strikeouts.
In the two starts since his disastrous outing on June 19 in which he allowed seven runs in just 1.1 innings of work, De Grandpre has bounced back quite nicely. Across 11.2 innings, has allowed just two runs while striking out a combined 14 batters in those two outings. Hopefully he is fully adjusted, or at least getting there, to the double-A level.
At the plate, the Clingstones offense came to play as Columbus registered eight runs on 10 hits in the win.
The Clingstones scored one run in each of the first and third innings to jump out to a 2-0 lead over Tennessee. While the Smokies cut that lead in half in the bottom of the seventh, Columbus responded in a huge way in their final trip to the dish.
Patrick Clohisy — who doubled earlier in the game — got the rally started with an RBI-triple to score Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. and make it a 3-1 game. Clohisy later scored on a Kyle Farmer single before Drew Compton posted the biggest swing of the night — a bases-clearing triple to extend the Columbus lead to 7-1 on the night.
3 for the price of 1! 🤑Clingstones lead 7-1! pic.twitter.com/1A4JZzOcO3— Columbus Clingstones (@GoClingstones) July 2, 2026
Tennessee managed to get two of those runs back in the home half of the ninth, but Owen Hackman locked in and closed out the game to cap off the win.
Speaking of relievers, Blake Burkhalter tossed another scoreless outing with a pair of strikeouts to his credit. Since joining Columbus on June 17, Burkhalter has tossed 6.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and only one walk issued thus far. It will be interesting to see how long the front office keeps Burkhalter in double-A before they bump him up to Gwinnett to see if he continues his success.
(37-38) Rome Emperors 8, (28-48) Jersey Shore BlueClaws 1
Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
Dixon Williams, LF: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Owen Carey, RF: 2-4, RBI, 2 R
Tate Southisene 0-5, 2 K
John Gil, 0-3, 2 BB, R, K
Dallas Macias, 1-4, HR, RBI, R
Ethan Bagwell, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, BB, 6 K
Box Score
On the same day he was named a top-25 prospect in the sport by Baseball America, Hartman capped off his banner day by joining a prestigious club — doing so in historic fashion.
Needing just one home run to join the 20/30 club and become the first player both this season and in Rome’s history to post a season with that statline. What makes it even more impressive is the fact he was able to do it in just 71 games.
Hartman got his historic swing in the top of the fourth, taking 1-1, center-cut fastball from a lefty and pulled it over the right center field wall for an absolute rocket which also extended the Emperors’ lead to 2-0.
HE’S DONE IT!Eric Hartman becomes the first player in Rome franchise history to record 20 home runs and 30stolen bases in a single season!#RuleTheLand 🐧 pic.twitter.com/zZVlcRTGdh— Rome Emperors (@GoEmperors) July 1, 2026
It’s been an absolutely meteoric rise for Hartman who came into this season relatively unknown outside of Braves prospects circles. It’s not very often you get significant value out of a 20th-round pick, let alone a top-25 talent. But it appears as though Atlanta hit an absolute gold mine in Hartman. The only question is: when will he get to Atlanta?
There’s absolutely no reason to rush the 20-year-old, despite how poorly the big league offense is performing at the moment. However, the Braves have been one of the most aggressive teams in all of baseball when it comes to promoting their top guys and it would not surprise me if Hartman is next on that list.
Mid-2027 is still the most realistic timeline for Hartman to get the call, but you never can confidently rule out any options when it comes to Alex Anthopolous and company.
Back to Wednesday’s action, Dixon Williams had a huge night offensively as well, homering — his ninth of the year — while driving in three of Rome’s eight total runs on the night. Dallas Macias also got in on the long ball fun, homering in the top of the third to get the scoring started for the Emperors.
Keeping with the trend of solid pitching across the system, Ethan Bagwell was spectacular in his first start for Rome. In six innings, Bagwell held Jersey Shore scoreless while limiting the opposition to just five hits and one walk. He also struck out six in the process. It was quite the high-A debut for the righty and his progress, albeit slowed by injuries to start his pro career, could be a sneaky good one. So keep an eye on Bagwell moving forward and don’t be surprised if he continues to succeed and rocket up the prospect rankings himself.
(44-33) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (29-47) Salem RidgeYaks 0
Cody Miller, 3B: 1-3, RBI
Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4
Derek Vartanian, SP: 7 IP, 3 H, 8 K
Box Score
The GreenJackets might have only scored one run and tallied just two hits on the night, but that was more than enough to get the win thanks in large part to Derek Vartanian’s stellar start.
In what was his best start to date, Vartanian spun seven innings of scoreless ball, holding Salem to three hits and striking out eight in the process. Across 12 starts thus far, Vartanian carries an ERA of 3.41 while tossing 71.1 innings and striking out 71 batters over that span. While he is older for the low-A level as he’s 22, Vartanian could be a candidate to make the move up to Rome, especially when the new slate of draftees join the club later this month or in August.
Following Vartanian on the mound, Logan Forsythe and Lewis Sifontes combined to close out this one by tossing one scoreless inning apiece to preserve the shutout.
As mentioned, there wasn’t much to write home about on Wednesday with regards to the Augusta offense. However, the one run proved to be the difference maker as Cody Miller singled home Conor Essenburg in the third inning to tally the game’s lone RBI.