Right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, one of the top prospects for the Atlanta Braves, is regarded as a player to watch in the upcoming season and as one of the team’s top candidates for Rookie of the Year in 2024.
Smith-Shawver was highlighted by the MLB Pipeline staff, who wrote for MLB.com, for the caliber of his work as well as the chance he will have to enter the rotation in Atlanta the following season:
This week, Smith-Shawver, who just turned 21, pitched at four different levels the previous season. After pitching 62 innings in 15 minor-league starts, he finished 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA and 79 strikeouts (11.5 K/9).
Smith-Shawver was 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA in six major league appearances during the regular season, five of which were starts. In 25.1 innings, he struck out twenty batters.
Initially labeled as a “Spencer Strider starter kit” due to his primarily fastball and slider usage, Smith-Shawver also focused on developing his changeup this season and added a curveball to his repertoire.
MLB hitters batted, but there are still things to work on with the arsenal.In a limited sample size, Smith-Shawver struggled to consistently land the slider for strikes, going 364 against the curveball.
But there’s no denying the talent; he’s a consensus Top 100 prospect in all of baseball in addition to being Atlanta’s top prospect (including in our rankings).
Additionally, he reportedly started working out this offseason in early November with the goal of preparing his body to withstand the workload of a starter. Thirteen of the sixteen pitchers the Braves used to start games in 2023 were actual starters. Performance was a factor in 2023, but injury also contributed to the comparatively high number of starts.
