If you’re looking for the next big Atlanta Braves pitching prospect, then take a gander at the leader of today’s Mississippi rotation.
In back-to-back years, the Atlanta Braves selected Wake Forest teammates with their first-round draft picks. One of those, Ryan Cusick, has since been shipped to Oakland as part of the Matt Olson trade deal.
Right now, it’s looking like the Braves did well in keeping his fellow Demon Deacon.
Jared Shuster pitched well while at High-A Rome in 2021, but what he’s been doing at AA Mississippi is nothing short of spectacular thus far.
In 9 starts over 48 innings, Shuster is leading the entire Southern League in ERA (2.06), WHIP (0.88), and batting-average-against (.188) among all qualified pitchers.
If that’s not enough, he’s showing remarkable command with a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (51/11) that beats all but a couple of pitchers on that list.
Curiously enough, he’s been even better on the road with a minuscule 1.13 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 6:1 K/BB ratio.
Those are the kinds of numbers that get players promoted…
Shuster is in line to pitch again tonight against the Montgomery Biscuits (18-24; Tampa Bay) and build on some excellent outings already posted this year. In his last two starts…
- Against Pensacola (23-21; Miami): 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts… allowing a single run.
- Against Biloxi (23-24; Milwaukee): 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts… allowing a single run.
That Biloxi start was a nice comeback for Shuster… the prior start before that was a rare hiccup this year — also coming against that same Shuckers club.
Scouting reports tout Shuster’s changeup — some saying it’s better than Ian Anderson‘s — but fail to rank him more highly on the Braves’ prospect lists because he doesn’t throw a fastball in the mid-90’s (he sits around 90-91 mph) and his slider is rated as merely ‘average’.
He’s thrown the fastball with a lot more velocity at times (up to 97 recently), but that uptick hasn’t seemed to stick with him. That notwithstanding, the speed difference between even a 90-92 mph fastball and his 80 mph changeup is quite enough.
Clearly so, because he is getting some ugly swings at the off-speed pitches and his command is likewise noteworthy — particularly at this stage of his development. That command may be more vital as he moves up in levels, for a slower fastball will require more precision on his part.
But the performance evidence is there: note a 5-inning April start in which Shuster struck out a dozen Shuckers while walking just one.
As a result, Baseball America rates the 23-year-old New Bedford (Massachusetts) native as the 9th overall Braves prospect, but the overall numbers have him looking like one of the best pitchers in the system right now. Let’s hope that translates well to the majors in a couple of years.
But tonight it’s a turn on the mound against the Montgomery Biscuits. Next week, he’s scheduled to take on the first place (north division) Rocket City Trash Pandas (28-20; Angels).
The Mississippi Braves are currently in second place in the Southern League’s south division, 1.5 games behind Pensacola… playing well as of late despite losing Michael Harris II.