This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
AJ Smith-Shawver hasn’t gained top prospect status yet. But he is the Braves’ prospect who has generated the most buzz among scouts over the past two years.
The tremendous potential those scouts envisioned has continued to blossom. Smith-Shawver has 23 strikeouts, surrendered six hits and issued just four walks over the 14 scoreless innings he’s totaled through three starts with High-A Rome this year.
Smith-Shawver has struck out 44.2 percent of the batters he’s faced, and he has surrendered just two extra-base hits (both doubles). He’s looked like a man among boys at the High-A level. But he’s actually proving how advanced he is at just 20 years old. Just four of the 52 batters he’s faced thus far are younger than him.
The Braves knew they had something special when they took Smith-Shawver in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB Draft and gave him a $997,500 bonus, which was $795,900 above the multi-sport star’s slot value. This generous offer led the young Texan to decline the opportunity to pitch and play quarterback for Texas Tech.
“We love that he’s a two-sport star because we know he’s really athletic and a good, strong, physical kid,” current Astros general manager and former Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown said after the selection. “We think he has some upside to be pretty special."
Shawver-Smith was best recognized for his football accomplishments during high school. But he grew up playing a bunch of sports with Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who is two years older than the neighborhood buddy who is now one of Atlanta’s top prospects. The two helped Colleyville (Texas) High School win a state championship in 2019.
While the great athleticism was also visible, Smith-Shawver didn’t start pitching regularly until the summer of 2020. It didn’t take long for scouts to notice the 96-mph radar readings he was producing. The young hurler has also shown a good slider and potential with both a curveball and changeup.
Smith-Shawver is still learning the art of pitching and developing his secondary stuff. He currently ranks as the Braves No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline. But his early season success may be an indication he could rank as one of the game's Top 100 Prospects by this time next year.