Smith-Shawver could return to Braves ‘in the near future’

AJ Smith-Shawver’s third start for Triple-A Gwinnett since being optioned there July 29 was impressive, so much so that his appearance with the minor-league club Tuesday in Norfolk, Virginia, could be one of his last.

Smith-Shawver gave up one hit — an infield single to the first batter he faced — in 5⅓ scoreless innings and struck out seven for the Stripers. The righty has allowed just two earned runs (and none in his last two starts) over 16⅓ innings in three Triple-A starts since pitching in his only game for the Braves this season, July 29, against the Mets at Citi Field.

“I think it’s safe to say he’s gonna be someone here in the near future that’s gonna help us,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Tuesday. “I think he’s a guy that can move the needle for us just with his talent, his arm. We’ll just have to decide what that looks like when it happens, but he’s certainly on the cusp of coming back to us here sometime soon I would think.”

Smith-Shawver threw exactly 95 pitches in each of his last two outings for Gwinnett, a far cry from the 69 he totaled in the first game of a doubleheader against the Mets. He lasted just 4⅓ innings that day in what was, in essence, still part of his journey back from Tommy John surgery in June 2025.

The 23-year-old now appears ready to return to the big-league club. The only issue is the Braves don’t exactly have anywhere to put him.

A five-man rotation currently includes Chris Sale, Martín Pérez, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Tyler Mahle. Reynaldo López is also in the mix and should be coming off the injured list soon as he recovers from a minor knee injury.

The Braves could move to a six-man rotation, but Weiss doesn’t believe that strategy is sustainable.

“I think it sounds good in theory a lot,” the first-year Braves manager said. “But you got to remember the tradeoff for that: You’re shorthanded in the pen. Now, you can do it for a start, but to do it for any length of time, it’s nearly impossible. You can go shorthanded in the pen for, maybe, a night if you’re lucky, maybe two games. After that, you got no shot. On any typical night, there’s going to be probably three guys down in the pen as it is. So the logistics of that aren’t good.

“I’m always in favor of popping in a sixth starter a time through the rotation to give guys an extra day, or sometimes it just makes sense. But it’s not anything you could do for any length of time.”

Another option for the Braves if they choose to make room for Smith-Shawver is putting one of the starters, like López, Pérez or Holmes, into the bullpen. But Pérez has been invaluable in the Braves’ rotation this season, and Holmes hasn’t allowed a run in his last two starts, which have been six innings each.

López, meanwhile, is in the second season of his three-year contract and is getting paid $14 million in 2026. The 32-year-old made five starts to begin the season before spending two months in the bullpen. López returned to being a starter June 26 and has a respectable 3.86 ERA in six games, and nine of the 12 earned runs he has allowed in that stretch came in a two-start span in July.

“We look at (López) as a starter first, but like I said, it’ll be a numbers game as we get into September here with some guys in the picture,” Weiss added. “So that stuff, sometimes it sorts itself out, sometimes we gotta make some decisions. But (López will) get ready with the belief in mind that he’s gonna be a starter.”