AJ Smith-Shawver Called Up

[Heyward]

Gotta be for the rotation, dont think it'd make sense to have him in the pen. A waste of his talents. A stunner he got called up, i joked he might get called up this year, and yeah...

[Heyward]

110 minor league innings from a guy who didn't really pitch until his senior year in high school. I'm not saying it can't work, but if you're burning three years of control in a situation like this, you better be right. I know I'm more cautious than most, but I hate watching guys learn at the major league level.

People tend to forget that Strider was drafted out of high school by the Guardians and did pitch at Clemson. I know there will be inevitable comparisons, but they are different animals.

I dont love starting his clock early, but if he's good, hopefully AA can hammer out one of his friendly extensions for him.

[50PoundHead]

Gotta be for the rotation, dont think it'd make sense to have him in the pen. A waste of his talents. A stunner he got called up, i joked he might get called up this year, and yeah...

He's not here for the bullpen.

[msstate7]

If he's up to start, why be down a man in pen till the start?

[msstate7]

6-man rotation? Shuster to pen?

[Super]

When he went 7 the other day in the minors, the writing was on the wall. He’s not a BP piece. Better him than Shuster

[Garmel]

If he's up to start, why be down a man in pen till the start?

Yeah, that makes no sense.

[bravesfanMatt]

I don’t think they’ll bring him up to be a reliever. They did with Strider last year but I’m not sure that’s the case here. Wright won’t be back for a while and Fried has resumed throwing. Strider, Morton, Soroka, and Shuster is what we have right now so we have a big rotation need. I’m sure Encheff will have a good breakdown on him soon.

Did Elder die? if he is replacing Shuster, then why call him today and not when it is his spot to throw? You just created a hole in the pen... you could have called up any quad A reliever to take luca luser's spot until Shusters spot came up. So either Shuster is in the pen or AJ is.

[bravesfanforlife88]

Did Elder die? if he is replacing Shuster, then why call him today and not when it is his spot to throw? You just created a hole in the pen... you could have called up any quad A reliever to take luca luser's spot until Shusters spot came up. So either Shuster is in the pen or AJ is.

no starters announced for the Arizona series. I wonder if AA has a move lined up for a bullpen piece? Who is the odd man out?

[bravesfanMatt]

and for the record, I am here for him to start.. but I think they let him pitch from the pen to control his innings. I doubt they want him to work 150 innings (minors and majors) total this year. So this can be a pen role with spot starts if needed. He could get to 100+ innings combined if he is good enough to rely on from the pen.

[Freshmaker]

[msstate7]

and for the record, I am here for him to start.. but I think they let him pitch from the pen to control his innings. I doubt they want him to work 150 innings (minors and majors) total this year. So this can be a pen role with spot starts if needed. He could get to 100+ innings combined if he is good enough to rely on from the pen.

6-man rotation is my guess. Shuster becomes long man in pen. Soroka on an inning limit too, Charlie old, and wanna give strider an extra day for a while

[bravesnumberone]

no starters announced for the Arizona series. I wonder if AA has a move lined up for a bullpen piece? Who is the odd man out?

Can't imagine he'd have a decent one lined up this early unless it's someone semi-useful from Oakland or Kansas City.

[msstate7]

6-man rotation is my guess. Shuster becomes long man in pen. Soroka on an inning limit too, Charlie old, and wanna give strider an extra day for a while

And I was wrong

[bravesnumberone]

Remember when we had like 12-13 bullpen options in the spring and were wondering how we were going to fit them all?

[Garmel]

Strider did some bullpen work last year as well.

[Garmel]

Remember when we had like 12-13 bullpen options in the spring and were wondering how we were going to fit them all?

Bullpen volatility can be a bitch sometimes.

[bravesfanMatt]

I just hope he isn't a junk baller who walks 6 per 9 innings when we actually see him for the first time. we have like 6 of those already.

[Deester11]

I'm with 50 on this. Not really sure what to think. Not that he can't do it..not that his stuff won't play..but I would have loved to see him at a full level for a bit. He does have a great makeup..feel, etc...but....I'm happy and puzzled. Oh well...let's play

[Enscheff]

Odd move. He's at 33 IP this year, so there's no real need to limit innings in the BP.

For his 5/25 start in AAA I see the FA at 91.8-96.9, with that 96.9 coming on his 76th pitch when he was likely emptying the tank in his last inning. The spin rate on it looks to be averaging around 2200. That's mediocre spin on a FA, so I would expect 8" of rise or less (Soroka just spun his at 2400 and has below average rise on a FA that is clearly his worst pitch).

AJ spun the curve at ~2300, the slider/cutter at ~1900. For reference, the average MLB curve spins at 2506, and the average MLB slider/cutter spins at 2401 in 2023. Those are the MLB average...not top end...average.

I have a very hard time believing AJSS comes equipped with a 70 grade FA and a 70 grade breaking ball of any kind with those very mediocre spin rates, but we will see what the MLB statcast data says. FWIW, FG currenty rates them both as 50 with room to grow to 60s. That seems much more in line with what the AAA data shows.