WASHINGTON -- AJ Smith-Shawver’s place in Atlanta’s October picture is still being sorted out, and Tuesday night didn’t make the answer any clearer.
The Braves right-hander, back in the majors after Tommy John surgery in June 2025, was hit hard in a 9-5 loss to the Nationals. In his fourth big league start since returning from the injured list on July 29, Smith-Shawver worked four innings, gave up five runs on six hits, and issued three walks while striking out five. He needed 86 pitches, 57 of them strikes.
The outing started with some promise. Smith-Shawver got through a 19-pitch first inning, and his fastball touched 97.5 mph.
But Washington took control in the second, when he allowed four runs on three hits and two walks to put Atlanta in a 4-1 hole. In the third, Nationals rookie Yohandy Morales - making his MLB debut - opened with a leadoff homer.
“Obviously, I'm not thrilled with all the results,” said Smith-Shawver. “I'm happy with mostly how the heater and splitter are coming out.
I think it comes down to execution and just getting outs. I gotta go get outs.
I can't walk guys, can't get behind in counts, and I gotta make them hit it to [the defense] a few times. I just got to have better stuff and keep us in ballgames.
It's not very competitive.”
Smith-Shawver said the problems came back to location and command.
“I think it's just part of execution,” said Smith-Shawver. “I think I got to some good and bad counts, and kind of just left some pitches up that were hittable. And yeah, it just comes down to executing pitches I feel like.”
He did finish with a clean fourth inning, using 13 pitches to retire the side after entering the frame at 73 pitches. Even so, his season line now sits at a 7.13 ERA across those four starts, and the bigger question around him is obvious: over the final month, is he trying to prove he’s healthy or trying to help the Braves win?
“It's trying to win games,” he said. “I think once I got called up it's, 'I'm healthy, so it's time to go get outs and go try to go get wins and clinch this thing.'
So it's just frustrating. Frustrating results.”
Manager Walt Weiss isn’t getting ahead of himself with postseason roles, either. With another game against Washington coming Wednesday afternoon, he said the Braves are keeping the rotation discussion in the present.
“No, that's too far away,” Weiss said of thinking about Smith-Shawver’s playoff role. “This is all day-to-day stuff with pretty much everything.
We've got six starters. [Reynaldo] López working his way back, so you got numbers there.
But no, it'll be day-to-day with the rotation.”
Atlanta also got a look at another young right-hander in Blake Burkhalter, the club’s No. 15 prospect and a September callup now that rosters have expanded to 28. Burkhalter made his major league debut in the sixth inning and allowed one run on one hit and one walk while striking out one. He threw 23 pitches, 12 for strikes, and his fastball reached 95.7 mph.
“Good job by Burky,” said Weiss. “Good arm.
He gave up the one run, but I saw good stuff. Good fastball, good breaking ball, hard breaking ball and the cutter.
So yeah, I thought he handled himself well.”
The Braves still have one of the strongest pitching staffs in baseball, but nights like this become more noticeable in September. Atlanta is trying to hold off the pack and win its first National League East title since 2023.
“Our record is what it is,” Weiss said. “We've been really good this year.
But every once in a while you have games like this. It's just, I think, magnified when you get to September and you're in a pennant race.
So we'll play better moving forward, but tough one tonight.”
Grant Holmes is set to start Wednesday’s series finale in Washington, and then the Braves head to Philadelphia for a massive four-game set against the second-place Phillies this weekend.
Michael Harris II gave Atlanta a late jolt with a two-run homer in the eighth, his second home run in as many games, but the Braves still left town with more questions than answers around the back end of their staff.
“As long as we win games, we control our destiny,” said Michael Harris II, who hit his second home run in as many games with a two-run homer in the eighth. “Obviously, the team that is right behind us, we play them next.
And yeah, it's a key series coming up. So as long as we handle business, that's all we can do.”
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