AJ Smith-Shawver is getting closer to the Braves, and the next couple of outings should tell the team a lot about how soon that move might happen.
The right-hander opened his rehab work earlier this month and looked sharp right away. In his first two appearances, he was overpowering, hitting 100 MPH and showing excellent command while building up to 46 pitches. Those outings came in Low-A Augusta, though, and the step up to Gwinnett brought a tougher test.
Against the Stripers, Smith-Shawver didn’t have the same easy run. He lasted only 2.1 innings, gave up two earned runs on five hits and three walks, and struck out two.
Even so, the bigger checkpoint was the workload. He pushed his pitch count to 58, which is the key number at this stage of his comeback from Tommy John surgery.
That’s the kind of outing that comes with the territory during a rehab assignment. The real question is how he looks next time out, when he should be stretched to around 70-75 pitches. If that start goes well, the Braves will have a much clearer picture of when he can help in Atlanta.
The club also has the luxury of patience because Smith-Shawver still has options, unlike the way they recently handled Hurston Waldrep. That means Atlanta can keep him in Gwinnett as long as it wants, letting him sort things out before making the jump. But the Braves are also running short on internal answers for their rotation, and among the choices they have, Smith-Shawver may offer the most upside.
He likely has at least two more starts coming over the next week or so as he keeps building his pitch count. After that, the Braves will weigh whether he’s ready to come up. It could feel a little quick, but that’s the spot Alex Anthopoulos left them in after the offseason passed without any spending on starting pitching, even though he said it was the team’s top priority.
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