AJ Smith-Shawver Called Up

[Deester11]

Depending upon which Bryc(s)e you are taking about (Wilson or Elder), it's not a ringing endorsement of the approach. If it's Elder, we have to remember he's a college guy and he had over 200 minor league innings pitched before hitting the major league. Ynoa was over 400 minor league innings. I'm not saying this can't work, I just don't think a lot of fans are using a wide-angle lens when looking at the move.

That's all I'm getting at.

[NYCBrave]

Yes. Yes it is unprecedented. AJSS has a total of what, 110 innings out of high school. The players you brought up:
Allard - 442 plus minor league innings.
Ynoa - 400 plus minor league innings
Bryce - 135 plus minor league innings (College - 135 innings)

Just so I'm clear. I love and have seen AJSS a lot. I love the guy. For me:
a. I just wanted him to cook a little longer in the minors in order to avoid the yo-yo effect and to experience adversity. To me, it always helps a player to see how they respond. I also wanted him to be in the rotation when his time came.
b. I get that the pen is a dumpster fire. What would you have done Deester? Since you're piecing together azz type players for the pen, call up a prospect or veteran who has be in the role. Who you may ask? Grant Holmes, Roddery Munoz, Yacksel Rios, or bring back up Dereck Rodriguez. Danny Young was certainly better than freaking Lucas L...
c. Didn't AJSS have to be added to the 40? Doesn't matter I guess, but I wouldn't have started his clock until I was sure he was going to pitch consistently. (For those who will say it, Fried was in the pen....yada, yada - 400 minor league innings).
d. For the AA stans, he certainly knows more than me. Doesn't mean he won't miss. H3ll he's entitled to miss a lot for what he's done for the organization, the things outlined above give me PAUSE, not concern. Clear enough?

For those who haven't seen AJSS, you'll like him for sure. Enscheff will provide data after his first appearances and you can make your own conclusions about his stuff.

I've gone back and forth on this move. Where I've ultimately landed at is, although I do fully trust AA, this feels like a kid who could use a lot more development time. He simply hasn't been pitching that long, and I would think additional learning through the minors on a normal routine schedule would do him well. Now his role is a bit undefined at the major league level, and he'll be thrown into a role he's not used to. We will see how it all pans out. Remember, there is nothing mandating that he has to remain up the rest of the season. So maybe this will be a short term stay.

[50PoundHead]

I've gone back and forth on this move. Where I've ultimately landed at is, although I do fully trust AA, this feels like a kid who could use a lot more development time. He simply hasn't been pitching that long, and I would think additional learning through the minors on a normal routine schedule would do him well. Now his role is a bit undefined at the major league level, and he'll be thrown into a role he's not used to. We will see how it all pans out. Remember, there is nothing mandating that he has to remain up the rest of the season. So maybe this will be a short term stay.

I think if he's not here to stay, the move goes from odd to questionable. If he's yo-yoed, the Braves have basically started the clock for a marginal contribution. The mid-range bullpen situation is a mess, but this is what you get when you hitch your wagon to the likes of Lucas Luetge. I don't know--and none of us do one way or the other--if this move is the way to correct that. I would have waited to see what happened when Lee returned and see if Yates and Jimenez solidify their spots.

My guess is that Smith-Shawver will get his feet wet with some low-leverage innings out of the bullpen and be in the rotation in a month. I think there's concerns about both Fried and Wright both this season and long-term and Shuster and Dodd both look like 5/6 guys. With Morton likely retiring, Fried possibly leaving after 2024, and Wright's future being up in the air, the front office probably wants Smith-Shawver ready for a rotation spot in 2024 and part of this strategy is giving him a considerable of innings this season.

[NYCBrave]

I think if he's not here to stay, the move goes from odd to questionable. If he's yo-yoed, the Braves have basically started the clock for a marginal contribution. The mid-range bullpen situation is a mess, but this is what you get when you hitch your wagon to the likes of Lucas Luetge. I don't know--and none of us do one way or the other--if this move is the way to correct that. I would have waited to see what happened when Lee returned and see if Yates and Jimenez solidify their spots.

My guess is that Smith-Shawver will get his feet wet with some low-leverage innings out of the bullpen and be in the rotation in a month. I think there's concerns about both Fried and Wright both this season and long-term and Shuster and Dodd both look like 5/6 guys. With Morton likely retiring, Fried possibly leaving after 2024, and Wright's future being up in the air, the front office probably wants Smith-Shawver ready for a rotation spot in 2024 and part of this strategy is giving him a considerable of innings this season.

Good call. But what I'm curious about is where are those "considerable amount of innings" coming from this year, if he's pitching out of the bullpen?

[50PoundHead]

Good call. But what I'm curious about is where are those "considerable amount of innings" coming from this year, if he's pitching out of the bullpen?

I think if he shows being anywhere near ready in his bullpen innings, he'll be in the rotation by the All-Star break. I'm admittedly on the cautious side of prospect promotion so I really don't like the move that much, but Strider's meteoric rise and continued success seems to be the precedent the front office wants to follow. As with everything else, we'll just have to wait and see.

[thewupk]

I think if he's not here to stay, the move goes from odd to questionable. If he's yo-yoed, the Braves have basically started the clock for a marginal contribution. The mid-range bullpen situation is a mess, but this is what you get when you hitch your wagon to the likes of Lucas Luetge. I don't know--and none of us do one way or the other--if this move is the way to correct that. I would have waited to see what happened when Lee returned and see if Yates and Jimenez solidify their spots.

My guess is that Smith-Shawver will get his feet wet with some low-leverage innings out of the bullpen and be in the rotation in a month. I think there's concerns about both Fried and Wright both this season and long-term and Shuster and Dodd both look like 5/6 guys. With Morton likely retiring, Fried possibly leaving after 2024, and Wright's future being up in the air, the front office probably wants Smith-Shawver ready for a rotation spot in 2024 and part of this strategy is giving him a considerable of innings this season.

The clock that really matters can be stopped at any time.

[50PoundHead]

The clock that really matters can be stopped at any time.

Yes and no. Once he's on the 40-man, he's on the 40-man and options start to matter. They can play with the arbitration clock, but given how they've operated the past couple of seasons, they just buy out the arbitration years anyway. If he pitches well, I expect that they'll take a similar approach to what they took with Harris.

[thewupk]

Yes and no. Once he's on the 40-man, he's on the 40-man and options start to matter. They can play with the arbitration clock, but given how they've operated the past couple of seasons, they just buy out the arbitration years anyway. If he pitches well, I expect that they'll take a similar approach to what they took with Harris.

I honestly think the options clock gets overrated at times especially with pitchers. If he can help now then being up is fine.

[Deester11]

I think if he's not here to stay, the move goes from odd to questionable. If he's yo-yoed, the Braves have basically started the clock for a marginal contribution. The mid-range bullpen situation is a mess, but this is what you get when you hitch your wagon to the likes of Lucas Luetge. I don't know--and none of us do one way or the other--if this move is the way to correct that. I would have waited to see what happened when Lee returned and see if Yates and Jimenez solidify their spots.

My guess is that Smith-Shawver will get his feet wet with some low-leverage innings out of the bullpen and be in the rotation in a month. I think there's concerns about both Fried and Wright both this season and long-term and Shuster and Dodd both look like 5/6 guys. With Morton likely retiring, Fried possibly leaving after 2024, and Wright's future being up in the air, the front office probably wants Smith-Shawver ready for a rotation spot in 2024 and part of this strategy is giving him a considerable of innings this season.

To add to this, there is no way AA hasn't considered the yo-yo affect especially for AJSS. I'll stop beating this horse...but my concern is 3 years of high school pitching and 100 innings is baby progress. The times I have seen him, he wasn't Doc Gooden (he was good though). IF and that's a big IF, he's in the majors for good, the bullpen just doesn't seem a great way to maximize his development, but then again someone will say, but "so and so" did it. I get it. But to 50's point, if he's yo-yo'ed, it's a strategy that is un-AA like in that it is short-sighted.

[Enscheff]

I'm going to make this unpopular assessment based on AAA statcast data: I don't think anyone will care about AJ's "clock" 3 years from now.

Hopefully something in his MLB data changes my mind.

[50PoundHead]

I'm going to make this unpopular assessment based on AAA statcast data: I don't think anyone will care about AJ's "clock" 3 years from now.

Hopefully something in his MLB data changes my mind.

If I'm reading you right (and I might not be), it makes the decision even odder.

[Hulavol]

Two theories here - 1) Cheff is right and AJ sucks- and we may as well get some good relief innings out of him right now before a book is on him -because he’s never going to amount to anything…..or:
2) AA shot him up through the system like a meteor because the org has seen something very elite in him ….

[mfree80]

Two theories here - 1) Cheff is right and AJ sucks- and we may as well get some good relief innings out of him right now before a book is on him -because he’s never going to amount to anything…..or:
2) AA shot him up through the system like a meteor because the org has seen something very elite in him ….

I suspect that the reality is somewhere in between those two theories, but that does help frame it a bit.

They are obviously hoping for 2.

They have lately been very aggressive with the guys they consider elite, and the results have been pretty good overall.

[msstate7]

Rushing a kid with below avg stuff up at age 20 makes no sense. We're in win now mode, and I don't think AA thinks rushing a kid with bad stuff is gonna somehow make the pen better. Either AA is an idiot or this kid has good stuff... there is no in between

[Deester11]

Rushing a kid with below avg stuff up at age 20 makes no sense. We're in win now mode, and I don't think AA thinks rushing a kid with bad stuff is gonna somehow make the pen better. Either AA is an idiot or this kid has good stuff... there is no in between

I've stated that his stuff is good. I just don't pay attention to spin rates much. I keep video of watching them but lately been too lazy to clog up my camera with all of them...that said, I do think AJSS is good. But mlb good? Meh....somewhere between idiot and good stuff is an apt description...lol.

[Hudson2]

I trust AA and his team on this. We’ll see.

[jpx7]

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.

You forgot Elder.

[atl717]

Tough to tell on video, but I do think AJSS has a lot of deception with his delivery. I think that is helping him a lot. But deception is less effective the more looks batters get.

[Super]

Tough to tell on video, but I do think AJSS has a lot of deception with his delivery. I think that is helping him a lot. But deception is less effective the more looks batters get.

Especially for a small guy, amirite?

[zbhargrove]

Especially for a small guy, amirite?

This is also the dude who let us know that Soroka is now trash watching him once after not pitching in the majors for almost 3 years.