The Atlanta Braves made a roster move on Tuesday night that signaled they may be deploying a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future. The move brought AJ Smith-Shawver off the 60-day IL.
Smith-Shawver hadn’t made an appearance for the Braves since July 29th against the New York Mets, when he allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched, striking out four and walking two. He was recalled for the doubleheader and the Braves lost that game 3-2. It was his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery which limited his 2025 season.
Against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, Smith-Shawver threw another 4.1 innings, allowing four runs while striking out three and walking three. Smith-Shawver threw 75 pitches, 31 of which were splitters and 20 of which were four-seam fastballs. Smith-Shawver got multiple early whiffs with his splitter, making Twins shortstop Royce Lewis look rather silly as he lunged at the diving off-speed pitch.
Atlanta couldn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities early to help Smith-Shawver, as Ronald Acuña grounded out with runners on 1st and 2nd, and then Drake Baldwin put together a non-competitive swing and struck out to end the inning with two runners in scoring position.
Smith-Shawver’s one-out walk of catcher Victor Caratini in the third inning was the beginning of the end. Kaelen Culpepper followed it up with a bloop single into center field, meaning Smith-Shawver let the eight and nine hole runners reach to set things up for the top of the lineup. Luke Keaschall then popped up a bunt just over Smith-Shawver’s head for a single to load the bases with one out.
Byron Buxton rolled over the shortstop on the first pitch of his at-bat, but somehow Keaschall beat the throw to second base, scoring a run on a fielder’s choice. Matt Olson turned a smooth double play to end the inning and limit the damage.
Soft contact and walks killed Smith-Shawver in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, he pull-yanked a slider down and in to left-handed-hitting Josh Bell to walk in a run. He left the game after that pitch with the Braves trailing 2-1. Kody Clemens then hit a double off the wall to score two runs and extend Minnesota’s lead to 4-1. The Twins ultimately won 6-4 after Atlanta relievers Victor Mederos and Dylan Lee both allowed an earned run later in the game.
The Braves couldn’t make the most of their three-run sixth inning to pull out the win.
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