Atlanta Braves Promote Another Top Pitching Prospect to Big Leagues
The Atlanta Braves are binging up another top pitching prospect.
We've already seen Bryce Elder and Jared Shuster this year, and now, it's time for 20-year-old AJ Smith Shawver.
The 20-year-old is being called up to the big leagues in advance of Tuesday's game against the Oakland Athletics. Braves Insider Grant McAuley had more on Twitter:
#Braves RHP A.J. Smith-Shawver, who doesn't turn 21 until November, owns a 1.09 ERA as a SP across 33 innings at 3 separate levels already in 2023. He's struck out 45 batters (12.3 K/9) against just 12 walks and allowed only 19 hits (1 HR). He was a 7th rounder in the 2021 draft.
He's currently the No. 4 prospect in the Braves organization. Here's more from his MLB.com prospect profile:
His upside and athleticism on the mound was too much for the Braves to pass up and they went well over slot to sign him as a seventh-round pick in the 2021 Draft. He showed off his impressive stuff during his first full season with Single-A Augusta, though with a lack of polish not surprising for a two-sport star.
Smith-Shawver is big and projectable and already has an electric fastball-slider combination. His heater sits in the mid-90s and touches 98 mph, with a ton of run and life. His slider flashes plus at 88-92 mph and has the chance to be a special out pitch. There’s some feel for his changeup, but he hasn’t thrown it a ton, and it’s behind the other two pitches. He once had a curve but didn’t use it at all last year.
The 2022 season marked the first time Smith-Shawver focused on baseball (and pitching) full time, so there will be an obvious learning curve. The Braves are optimistic about his ability to harness his stuff and find the strike zone more consistently than he did in his first full season. Of the young high school arms the Braves have selected over the past couple of Drafts, Smith-Shawver might have the highest ceiling.
The Braves play the Athletics at 9:40 p.m. ET.
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