Six years after being drafted in the third round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Atlanta Braves, former Joel Barlow righty Charlie Morton is going to the big show.

The injury-depleted Braves announced they will call Morton up from AAA Richmond in time to start the game Saturday against the Angels in Anaheim.

Morton, who is 5-2 and has the second-best ERA (2.05) in the International League, will take Tom Glavine’s spot in the rotation. Glavine suffered an elbow injury Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs and was placed on the DL.

Morton spent much of 2007 pitching out of Double-A Mississippi’s bullpen after working primarily as a starter in his first five pro seasons. He moved back to the rotation late in the year and led the Mississippi to its lone win in the Southern League playoffs.

He followed that with an excellent stint in the Arizona Fall League with Peoria (4-1 2.57 in six games) and was added to Atlanta’s 40-man major league roster.

Morton’s curveball was rated the best in the Atlanta system in 2005 by Baseball America.

But he also spent five seasons playing Class A ball, and was close to being considered a classic draft bust. Click here and read this column by Clarion-Ledger columnist Rick Cleveland.