Hurston Waldrep wasn’t the only Braves arm working his way back into the picture Tuesday. Smith-Shawver also took a big step, making his first Minor League rehab start in a year and getting through three innings for Single-A Augusta against Salem.
The line was solid enough: one run on three hits, four strikeouts and no walks over 41 pitches, with 29 of those going for strikes. The only blemish came when Salem’s Avinson Pinto jumped on the first pitch of the third inning for a solo homer. Smith-Shawver settled right back in after that, finishing the frame with two strikeouts to limit the damage.
He was sharp from the start, too. In the first inning, he punched out Andrews Opata and Franklin Primera swinging as part of a two-strikeout opening frame.
Smith-Shawver had Tommy John surgery with Dr. Keith Meister on June 9, 2025, so this is still the early part of the ramp-up process.
Even so, Atlanta knows what it can get when he’s ready. Before the injury, the former top prospect posted a 3.86 ERA in nine starts with 42 strikeouts across 44 1/3 innings.
That kind of arm matters for a Braves rotation that has been strong overall, carrying a 3.85 ERA that ranks eighth in the Majors. But the group is also dealing with key absences, with Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach both on the injured list because of right elbow inflammation. Strider won’t begin throwing until at least mid-July, while Schwellenbach is aiming for a return late in the season.
In Other News...
Another Braves Loss Sums Up Everything Miserable About June
June keeps finding new ways to wear out the Braves, and this one fit the months mood neatly. A 5-3 loss to the Cardinals was built on the same mix that has haunted Atlanta too often lately: a pitching staff that could not quite stop the bleeding when it mattered, and an offense that spent enough time in scoring position to make the result feel even more frustrating.
Martin Perez absorbed the biggest blow, with the Cardinals stringing together the kind of swing that can flip a night in a hurry. Atlanta had chances to answer, including a bases-loaded spot in the eighth, but managed only a single run there and never fully dug out of the hole. Even St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore, who struck out nine in five innings, had plenty of traffic to manage with walks and a hit batter, leaving the Braves to wonder how a game with that many openings still ended the same old way. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Season Feels Stuck Waiting On Ronald Acua Jr
The Braves keep finding new ways to look stuck in neutral, and the latest skid has only sharpened the frustration. They have dropped three straight and seven of their last eight, with the offense and pitching both slipping at the same time, a rough combination for a team that entered the stretch still trying to steady itself.
Ronald Acua Jr.s absence hangs over everything, because Atlanta has not looked like the same group without one of its most dynamic players available. There has been at least some movement on his side as he works back from a hamstring strain, but the bigger picture for the Braves is unchanged: they need more stability from the lineup and rotation, and the encouraging surprise from Martin Perez is not the kind of lift they can count on all summer. [Read more 🡒]