| AJ Smith-Shawver | |
|---|---|
 Smith-Shawver with the Gwinnett Stripers in 2024 | |
| Atlanta Braves – No. 32 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:November 20, 2002 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 4, 2023, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics (through 2023 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 1–0 |
| Earned run average | 4.26 |
| Strikeouts | 20 |
| Teams | |
| |
AJ Smith-Shawver (born November 20,2002) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Smith-Shawver grew up in Colleyville,Texas and attended Colleyville Heritage High School,where he played baseball and football. [1] He was Colleyville Heritage's starting quarterback and passed for 2,616 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior. He stopped pitching to focus on football, [2] and was named All-Area by the Dallas Morning News as a third baseman after batting .344 with 20 RBIs. [3] Smith-Shawver committed to play both college baseball and college football at Texas Tech University. [4]
The Atlanta Braves selected Smith-Shawver in the seventh round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. [5] He signed with the team,foregoing his commitment to Texas Tech,and received an over-slot signing bonus of $997,500. [6] [7] After signing,Smith-Shawver was assigned to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Braves and made four appearances. He spent the 2022 season with the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets. [8] [9] While pitching in the FCL and for the GreenJackets,Smith-Shawver focused on developing a slider. [10]
The following year,Smith-Shawver began the season with the Rome Braves. [11] [12] At the High-A level,he made three starts,threw fourteen scoreless innings with four walks and 23 strikeouts,while yielding six hits. [13] On May 2,Smith-Shawver was promoted to the Mississippi Braves. [14] He allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings over two appearances at the Double-A level, [15] then made his Triple-A debut with the Gwinnett Stripers on May 19,yielding his first earned runs on the 2023 season. [7] [16] [17]
On May 30,2023,the Braves selected Smith-Shawver's contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. [18] [19] He faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in his major league debut on June 4,pitching 2+1⁄3 innings of relief while recording three strikeouts and one walk. [20] [21] Smith-Shawver made his first start against the Washington Nationals on June 9, [22] yielding two unearned runs on three hits in 5+1⁄3 innings. [2] [23] On June 15, Smith-Shawver earned his first win, giving up six hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 5+2⁄3 innings against the Colorado Rockies. [24] He became the youngest Braves pitcher to win a game since Steve Avery on August 24, 1990. [25] On June 26, Shawver was optioned back down to Gwinnett to make room on the roster for the Braves to promote relief pitcher Dereck Rodriguez. [26]
Smith-Shawver was invited to spring training before the 2024 regular season began, [27] but did not make the club and was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. [28]
AJ Smith was raised by his mother Laurie and stepfather Jason. He added Shawver to his surname while in high school. [2]
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