Braves Get Rotation Set for Opening Day

Chris Sale is locked in as the Opening Day starter for the Atlanta Braves but a top prospect might be getting lined up for a potential regular-season start

Harrison Smajovits | Mar 20, 2025

The Braves are rolling with two starters on Friday / Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

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Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are rolling out two of their starting pitchers for the Spring Training matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Chris Sale will be on the bump to start the game and AJ Smith-Shawver will follow. The latter arm was originally scheduled to start Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Reliever Hector Neris is now opening that one.

This setup would give Sale an extra day of rest ahead of his Opening Day start March 27. Bowman added, while not confirmed by Braves manager Brian Snitker, that Smith-Shawver would be lined up for a start in the first game of the series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Smith-Shawver still needs to be confirmed as starting the season in the rotation. Ian Anderson and Grant Holmes were viewed as the fourth and fifth starters heading into Spring Training. However, the narrative has shifted in the Braves No. 3 prospect’s favor as of late.

With two starters stretching out for the regular season, there is a good chance these are the only two pitchers who go out there. Sale has already stretched out to six innings of work while Smith-Shawver has pitched at least four innings in his last two outings.

Perhaps Sale pitches five or six innings and Smith-Shawver throws three or four. This is all speculative, but at this point in Spring Training, there isn’t much room to have more arms in the mix with this plan. However, if Neris is starting/opening Thursday’s game, that would offset any predicament.

Through four Spring Training starts, Sale has a 3.52 ERA with a 0.85 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. Apart from a grueling start March 10, Sale has shown little trouble getting the job done in Grapefruit League play. That grueling stat was against the Rays so Friday will make for a good final test ahead of the regular season - see if he can adjust and get some payback.

Smith-Shawver has had a respectable spring. He has a 3.75 ERA in 12 innings pitched spanning four appearances. A huge advantage he has had recently is his command over his arsenal. He’s had little trouble finding the strike zone and has three walks all spring.

Meanwhile, Ian Anderson has more walks than innings pitched (18 walks to 17 IP). To Anderson’s credit, he’s been getting out of these jams. The concern though is if this will catch up to him.

With a handful of Spring Training baseball left to go, there’s a chance for this all to play out.