Upside is not a word you would use to describe the Atlanta Braves rotation at the moment. Sure, Chris Sale is awesome and continues to dominate, but after him the arms in the rotation leave a lot to be desired.
Thankfully, one of Atlanta's highest upside pitchers is knocking loudly on the door to the big leagues. AJ Smith-Shawver made his latest rehab start on Thursday night, and this outing was perhaps his most impressive work yet.
AJSS pitched four innings against the Iowa Cubs, and his stuff looked very close to the electric arsenal he was displaying in Atlanta before his 2025 elbow injury. Smith-Shawver got his pitch count up to 86 pitches on Thursday, struck out five, limited Iowa to just two hits, and saw his fastball touch triple digits on three separate occasions.
AJ fans five!
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) July 24, 2026
4.0 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 5 K pic.twitter.com/oEX7H1rT4o
AJ Smith-Shawver has to join the Braves rotation sooner than later
GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed earlier this week that they would take a serious evaluation following Smith-Shawver's next rehab start. Thursday's start went about as well as it could have for AJSS, and with Atlanta's rotation in need of some juice, his next start could very well come at the big league level.
Once a pitcher nears that 90-pitch plateau, he is certainly in line for consideration for a start with Atlanta. Watching Smith-Shawver blow away Triple-A hitters with an upper-90s fastball and disgusting splitter isn't really doing anyone any favors, so it's probably time to test the 23-year-old with a step up in competition.
Before his injury in June, Smith-Shawver was enjoying a solid breakout campaign where he threw just over 44 innings with a 3.86 ERA and 3.90 FIP. Inconsistent command issues still exist for Smith-Shawver, but his upside is enough to dream on a difference-maker replacing one of the maddening rotation arms Atlanta currently deploys.
Should Atlanta choose to let Smith-Shawver make one more rehab start, the following start would be after the trade deadline (which hopefully is accompanied by an external rotation addition) and against a less-than-intimidating Miami Marlins lineup in the friendly home surroundings of Truist Park.
Ultimately, the results of this next turn through the rotation and how the trade deadline unfolds could determine how aggressive Atlanta is with Smith-Shawver's return date. At the very least, the Texas native is showcasing that he looks more and more ready with each rehab outing.
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