The Braves announced that they have selected the contract of pitching prospect AJ Smith-Shawver and designated left-hander Lucas Luetge for assignment in a corresponding move.
Atlanta has shown in recent years that it the most aggressive club in the league when it comes to promoting prospects to the majors and this continues that trend. Smith-Shawver is only 20 years old and was just drafted in 2021, getting selected in the seventh round. He made his professional debut with four Complex League appearances that year and then jumped onto Baseball America’s list of the top 30 prospect in the organization, getting the #18 spot going into 2022.
He would get a lengthier exposure in 2022, making 17 starts in Single-A, posting a 5.11 ERA in 68 2/3 innings. While that earned run figure wasn’t especially impressive, there was some bad luck in there. His .338 batting average on balls in play and 59.5% strand rate were both on the unlucky side of normal, leading to a 3.53 FIP that was much kinder. He jumped to #1 on BA’s list of top prospects in the system, as they highlighted his four-seam fastball, which averaged 95 mph and had good movement. They also praised his slider and mentioned a work-in-progress changeup.
This year, he began the year in High-A but the club has shown little hesitation about bumping him up the ladder. He made just three starts at that level before getting bumped to Double-A for two and then Triple-A for two more. In those seven starts, he has a combined 1.09 ERA over 33 innings, striking out 35.2% of batters while walking 9.4%. He’s getting good luck this time around, with his BABIP down to .257 on the year and his strand rate up to 91.2%. However, his 2.43 FIP still points to excellent work even when taking that into account.
That performance this year has pushed up his prospect stock. Though he wasn’t really considered a top 100 guy coming into the year, he’s now up to #98 at Baseball America and JJ Cooper of BA tweets that he will likely be moving up even higher in their next update. He didn’t open the year in the top 100 at FanGraphs either but it now up to #86 there. Now he’ll get to make his big league debut at a very young age and with a very quick blast through the minors.
As mentioned, this is becoming something of a playbook for the organization. Last year, they promoted prospects like Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom, both of whom were in their age-21 seasons. Going further back, players like Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Michael Soroka all got to the show in the respective age-20 campaigns. Austin Riley and Spencer Strider each got to debut in their age-22 seasons. Now Smith-Shawver will be the latest to be rocketed up to the top level.
Although he is a starter, Smith-Shawver will be used out of the bullpen initially, reports David O’Brien of The Athletic. Though the club has one of the better records in the league at 32-22, the bullpen is an area on the roster that looks a little shaky. The club’s relievers have a collective 4.13 ERA on the year, which places them 17th out of the 30 clubs in the league. Smith-Shawver will try to give them a boost back there as he gets acquainted with the majors.
It’s possible he could join the rotation down the road, as there’s some uncertainty there as well. With Max Fried and Kyle Wright both on the injured list and not expected to return anytime soon, that leaves Atlanta with Strider, Soroka, Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder, and Jared Shuster. Soroka has hardly pitched in the past three years due to various injuries, including twice tearing his Achilles, and it’s unknown how much of a workload he can be expected to take on this year. Shuster, meanwhile, is a rookie with a 5.33 ERA so far this year. There may come a time when Smith-Shawver appears to be a viable option, but he may not have too much leash himself after throwing just 68 2/3 innings last year.
As for Luetge, he spent the past couple of seasons as an effective lefty reliever for the Yankees. He came over to Atlanta in an offseason deal but has struggled mightily so far this year. He has a 10.24 ERA on the season, only making nine appearances around a trip to the injured list due to biceps inflammation. His .406 BABIP and 57.3% strand rate have pushed that up but his 6.08 FIP and 4.53 SIERA still aren’t ideal.
The club will now have one week to trade Luetge or pass him through waivers. Despite his rough stretch here in 2023, he’ll likely garner interest based on his previous work. He tossed 129 2/3 innings with the Yanks over 2021 and 2022 with a combined 2.71 ERA, striking out 25% of opponents while walking only 5.8%. He’s making a salary of $1.55MM this year and could be retained for another year via arbitration. If he clears waivers, he could reject an outright assignment by virtue of having a previous career outright. But doing so and electing free agency would mean forfeiting his remaining salary, since he is shy of the five-year service mark.
Wow
Wow, all of you Braves fans couldn’t see this?
And “wow” is the best we can come up with this?
ASS up!
He will be facing down some major leaguers, all lined up to give him a hard time.
Thanks. I thought he’d be facing down some minor leaguers who would just roll over for him.
Oh yeah, Braves are serious.
Good job!!
Didn’t realize how poorly Luetge was pitching this year.
Yeah, Alex really hawk’d a Luetge with that one.
Same on the Jimenez deal. Malloy should still be a Brave.
AA can’t win them all. But, I’m not complaining.
Yeah, never liked the Jimenez trade from the get go.
I understood it, but I still thought giving up JHM with such a barren position player talent pool in the minors wasn’t very smart.
Of course if Malloy turns out to be another Pache, the deal will look better.
In that same vein I’m getting concerned about Michael Harris and his stalled adjustment to major league pitching.
Good move. Another bold promotion. He only has 4 games above High A. 20 y/o. Can’t be any worse than luetge. With rotation troubles already you can’t let people from the pen keep imploding. They let luetge throw almost 50 pitches in one inning the other day. Guess you can afford to when you’re about to release him.
Now I don’t have to think of a loogie every time I see him pitch. It’s disturbing
Aside from his pitching woes, he walked off the mound and seemingly mouthed off to Snit…or at least thats what it seemed. If a reliever has a bad outing, Snit historically has them jump right back in the next day to get more innings. Awful back to back performances didnt help his cause, maybe something in the club house…who knows
Didn’t see that bit. Interesting. The Yankees didn’t want him even though he was quite good. Maybe you’re onto something.
As a Mets fan, I’m completely amazed by the Braves prospects. They get promoted early and generally perform really well. It must be exciting to be a fan.
I’m sure the Yankees fans can share some Luetge “losing my religion” stories.
Yeah, bring the young ‘uns up!
I’m a huge Luetge fan and I think they should bring him back to see if he turns it around
I’m on board with this. Luetge really stunk it up yesterday!
I don’t understand why more teams don’t do this. I mean, yes they are inexperienced but they are still pitchers and baseball players, something they’ve been doing their whole lives. It’s not like they are going to go out there and literally have no idea what they’re doing. Yet we see some teams insisting on wasting innings on 35+ year old journeymen stinking out the joint because they are “veterans”.
The report is that this kid has only been pitching regularly since 2020.
@holecamels35: I don’t disagree w/your general thoughts on this, but in AJSS’ case, he didn’t start pitching until he was a junior in high school. The Braves drafted him in the 7th round in 2021 (paid him well over slot bonus money) and he’s got a grand total of 110 career minor league innings pitched. He’s as green as they come.
Agree he has been pitching a total of 45 starts ever in his life, or something like that. This is a very very aggressive move. I don’t think he has that many innings left this year. He has 33 now and I don’t see him going more than 80–so I guess the pen will limit him and he will get great experience.
I heard the Braves are already working on a 10yr/$150MM extension with him.
I’m convinced the Braves are just making these guys up.
while it seems good, you begin to wonder when they’re taking the NFL QB approach?…you prove your talent immediately or you just simply suck smh?!
Create a player on MLB the Show!
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Yesterday Soroka returns after an abscence from MLB of nearly 3 years. And the Braves were painstakingly patient with him so that he wouldn’t return until he was ready.
Today they promote Smith-Shawver, who was drafted less than 2 years ago, about the time Soroka re-injured his Achilles. The Braves promoted Smith-Shawver like he was shot out of a cannon.
Amazing contrast between the two situations, which shows that developing players is as much an art as it is a science.
Between those two promotions and seeing a video of Fried long tossing, I’m feeling really good about the Braves pitching staff going forward.
I heard on the radio broadcast of tonight’s game, AJSS has had 110 MiLB IP, while Strider was promoted after 94 MiLB IP. Strider started off in the bullpen, then eventually moved to rotation the next season.
Strider played college ball though
Yankees claim.
The word “meanwhile” starts a sentence, it doesn’t go in the middle, set off by commas. Why won’t writers learn this?