Braves pitching prospect AJ Smith-Shawver made his Triple-A debut with the Gwinnett Stripers Friday night.
Smith-Shawver went five innings in a road game against Memphis, allowing just four hits and two earned runs. Smith-Shawver walked two and struck out five.
Gwinnett edged Memphis 5-4. The Stripers’ Chad Pinder went 4-for-5. Through two games with Gwinnett, Pinder is batting .727 (8-for-11) with one double, two homers and three RBIs.
On May 2, the Braves promoted the 20-year-old Smith-Shawver – their No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline – to Double-A Mississippi from High-A Rome. On Tuesday, they promoted him to Gwinnett after only seven innings (two outings) in Double-A. He only made three starts in High A, then spent just two weeks in Double-A.
The runs Smith-Shawver allowed Friday were the first he’s given up this season. Before heading to Triple-A , he pitched 21 innings over the first two levels and did not surrender an earned run.
The Braves drafted Smith-Shawver in the seventh round in 2021 out of Colleyville Heritage in Texas.
At 20 years, five months, and 29 days, Smith-Shawver became the second-youngest starting pitcher in Gwinnett history, just behind Julio Teheran when he debuted on April 8, 2011 vs. Durham (20 years, two months, 12 days).
