AJ Smith-Shawver
20-Year-Old
2023 Stats
W-L
0-0
ERA
0.00
WHIP
0.78
K
5
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Smith-Shawver, an over-slot prep righty whom Atlanta gave almost $1 million to after selecting him in the seventh round in 2021, has one of the best fastball/slider combos in the entire minors. His fastball touches the upper-90s with elite movement and his upper-80s slider is already a monster bat misser. Smith-Shawver is still very raw as a pitcher, however, as his delivery and command need significant refinement. He made 17 starts in Single-A last season and went five-plus innings with two or fewer walks on five occasions, so there were flashes of him putting it all together, but his 13.0 BB% and 1.35 WHIP on the year showcase how far he still has to go. Smith-Shawver's third-pitch changeup isn't very usable right now, but the main thing for him is streamlining his plus athleticism into a repeatable delivery that allows him to throw enough strikes to start. If he does that and stays healthy, the sky is the limit, even with a mediocre third pitch. Read Past Outlooks
Impressive in first start
Smith-Shawver didn't factor into the decision in Friday's 3-2 win over the Nationals, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
A year ago at this time, Smith-Shawver was a teenager at Single-A just trying to harness his plus stuff and find the plate often enough to be effective. Friday, he made his first career big-league start and consistently dotted the inside corners of the strike zone with mid-90s heat while generating weak contact that his defense had some trouble corralling. The 20-year-old didn't show the dominance he'd displayed earlier this season as he made a rapid ascent through Atlanta's system, but that should come as he gets more comfortable in the majors. With Max Fried (forearm) and Kyle Wright (shoulder) out until at least the All-Star break, Smith-Shawver appears to be in line for a long look in the rotation, with his next outing potentially coming next week in Detroit.
A year ago at this time, Smith-Shawver was a teenager at Single-A just trying to harness his plus stuff and find the plate often enough to be effective. Friday, he made his first career big-league start and consistently dotted the inside corners of the strike zone with mid-90s heat while generating weak contact that his defense had some trouble corralling. The 20-year-old didn't show the dominance he'd displayed earlier this season as he made a rapid ascent through Atlanta's system, but that should come as he gets more comfortable in the majors. With Max Fried (forearm) and Kyle Wright (shoulder) out until at least the All-Star break, Smith-Shawver appears to be in line for a long look in the rotation, with his next outing potentially coming next week in Detroit.
Pitching Stats
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2023
2023 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
63
Last 10 Games
63
Last 5 Games
63
How many pitches does AJ Smith-Shawver generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does AJ Smith-Shawver generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2021
-11%
BAA vs RHP
2023
-11%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2021vs Left | .125 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Since 2021vs Right | .111 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Left | .125 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Right | .111 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2021
No Stats
2023
No Stats
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2021Home | 0.00 | 0.94 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | ||||
| Since 2021Away | 0.00 | 0.43 | 2.1 | 11.6 | 3.9 | ||||
| 2023Home | 0.00 | 0.94 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | ||||
| 2023Away | 0.00 | 0.43 | 2.1 | 11.6 | 3.9 | ||||
| 2022Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2021Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2021Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does AJ Smith-Shawver compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.67K/9
5.9BB/9
3.5HR/9
0.0Fastball
92.9 mphERA
0.00WHIP
0.78BABIP
.153GB/FB
1.13Left On Base
66.7%Exit Velocity
88.4 mphBarrels/BBE
0.0%Spin Rate
2102 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
27.3%Swinging Strike
7.2%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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More Fantasy News
First MLB start Friday
Smith-Shawver will make his first major-league start Friday against the Nationals, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Set for first MLB start
Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos confirmed Tuesday that Smith-Shawver will make his first major-league start this weekend against the Nationals, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
ANALYSIS
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Could make start this weekend
Smith-Shawver could make a start for Atlanta on Friday or Saturday versus the Nationals, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Dazzles in big-league debut
Smith-Shawver walked one and struck out three in 2.1 scoreless, no-hit innings of relief during Sunday's win over the Diamondbacks.
ANALYSIS
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Selected to MLB roster
Atlanta selected Smith-Shawver's contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.
ANALYSIS
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