AJ Smith-Shawver
21-Year-Old
Atlanta Braves AAA
2024 Stats
W-L
0-0
ERA
0.00
WHIP
1.15
K
4
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
The second-youngest pitcher to make five-plus starts in the majors last year (only Eury Perez was younger), Smith-Shawver has an impressive combination of youth, size and stuff. He dominated over three starts at High-A and two starts at Double-A before spending the bulk of his age-20 season going back and forth between Triple-A and the majors. The 6-foot-3 righty sat 93-96 mph with his plus fastball while touching 98 mph in the big leagues. He has touched triple digits in the past, but command and control have been lacking at times, so he may have dialed back his velocity in favor of more control during his 25.1 innings in the majors. Smith-Shawver threw his mid-80s slider 22 percent of the time while throwing his upper-70s curveball and fourth-pitch changeup each over 10 percent of the time, so it's a true four-pitch mix. All three secondary offerings can flash plus, but his breaking balls are more consistent than his changeup. He missed over two weeks with shoulder inflammation in the second half but returned to make four appearances in September. All told, he tallied 87.1 innings across four levels, so we can hope for around 140 innings in 2024 with good health. The main thing to keep in mind with Smith-Shawver is that he is still developing and could be far from a finished product. His command, secondary offerings and sequencing could all improve over the next couple years. Read Past Outlooks
Optioned to Gwinnett
Atlanta optioned Smith-Shawver to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
Just one day after returning from the 15-day injured list, Smith-Shawver will now head back to the minors without making an appearance for the big-league team. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings during his lone appearance with Atlanta on May 23, though he's posted a 6.10 ERA in eight starts in the minors. Dylan Lee will come up from Triple-A to fill Smith-Shawver's spot in the bullpen.
Just one day after returning from the 15-day injured list, Smith-Shawver will now head back to the minors without making an appearance for the big-league team. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings during his lone appearance with Atlanta on May 23, though he's posted a 6.10 ERA in eight starts in the minors. Dylan Lee will come up from Triple-A to fill Smith-Shawver's spot in the bullpen.
Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
87
Last 10 Games
87
Last 5 Games
87
How many pitches does AJ Smith-Shawver generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does AJ Smith-Shawver generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-29%
BAA vs RHP
2024
-100%
BAA vs LHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .214 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 5 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .151 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 | |||
2024vs Left | .000 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
2024vs Right | .300 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
2023vs Left | .240 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 5 | |||
2023vs Right | .116 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||
2022vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2022vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-29%
ERA at Home
2024
No Stats
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 3.20 | 1.07 | 19.2 | 5.9 | 3.7 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 4.50 | 1.20 | 10.0 | 9.9 | 4.5 | ||||
2024Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2024Away | 0.00 | 1.15 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 4.2 | ||||
2023Home | 3.20 | 1.07 | 19.2 | 5.9 | 3.7 | ||||
2023Away | 7.94 | 1.24 | 5.2 | 11.1 | 4.8 | ||||
2022Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2022Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does AJ Smith-Shawver compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.00K/9
8.3BB/9
4.2HR/9
0.0Fastball
96.2 mphERA
0.00WHIP
1.15BABIP
.267GB/FB
0.50Left On Base
100.0%Exit Velocity
78.7 mphBarrels/BBE
3.0%Spin Rate
2077 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
21.2%Swinging Strike
10.3%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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2023 Fantasy Outlook
Smith-Shawver, an over-slot prep righty whom Atlanta gave almost $1 million to after selecting him in the seventh round in 2021, has one of the best fastball/slider combos in the entire minors. His fastball touches the upper-90s with elite movement and his upper-80s slider is already a monster bat misser. Smith-Shawver is still very raw as a pitcher, however, as his delivery and command need significant refinement. He made 17 starts in Single-A last season and went five-plus innings with two or fewer walks on five occasions, so there were flashes of him putting it all together, but his 13.0 BB% and 1.35 WHIP on the year showcase how far he still has to go. Smith-Shawver's third-pitch changeup isn't very usable right now, but the main thing for him is streamlining his plus athleticism into a repeatable delivery that allows him to throw enough strikes to start. If he does that and stays healthy, the sky is the limit, even with a mediocre third pitch.
More Fantasy News
Rejoining Atlanta as reliever
Atlanta activated Smith-Shawver (oblique) from the 15-day injured Tuesday.
ANALYSIS
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Cleared for rehab assignment
Smith-Shawver (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Rome on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Diagnosed with Grade 2 strain
Smith-Shawver, who was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier Friday, was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique strain, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
ANALYSIS
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Lands on IL with oblique strain
Atlanta placed Smith-Shawver on the 15-day injured list Friday with a strained left oblique.
ANALYSIS
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Decent outing versus Cubs
Smith-Shawver allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four over 4.1 shutout innings Thursday versus the Cubs, taking a no-decision.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Call-up coming soon?
Smith-Shawver should be in the mix to be called up to start Friday against the Pirates, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
ANALYSIS
The right-hander is the organization's top prospect but has struggled at Triple-A Gwinnett this season with a 6.10 ERA and 4.9 BB/9 through eight starts, so he may not be the strongest candidate for a spot start. Smith-Shawver had a decent showing in his first taste of the big leagues last season with a 4.26 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 20:11 K:BB over 25.1 innings.
The right-hander is the organization's top prospect but has struggled at Triple-A Gwinnett this season with a 6.10 ERA and 4.9 BB/9 through eight starts, so he may not be the strongest candidate for a spot start. Smith-Shawver had a decent showing in his first taste of the big leagues last season with a 4.26 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 20:11 K:BB over 25.1 innings.