The way the Atlanta Braves have handled their upcoming roster crunch has been puzzling in some respects. We have known for a while now that AJ Smith-Shawver will be returning to the big league roster soon, but most assumed he would come back in a starting role. However, after a vote of confidence from Walt Weiss for Holmes and other comments from the Braves' manager, it is looking instead like Smith-Shawver could be headed for the bullpen once he does get the call.
Making such a shift with Smith-Shawver feels like a very odd choice. Sure, the Braves will want to limit Smith-Shawver's innings coming off a major injury. However, there are other, less severe ways to do that than moving a guy to the bullpen, and it is very weird to do so after you spent all of this time this season getting Smith-Shawver stretched back out as a starter.
However, there is actually a way that the Braves' plan could work in not only keeping Smith-Shawver stretched out and available to start down the line, but also help resolve their Grant Holmes problem.
Having AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes in a rigid handcuff arrangement could work out great for everyone
The idea of moving Holmes to the bullpen is not new, and many of the arguments for doing so still exist today. Even when he is good, Holmes performs significantly worse the second and third times through the order, which creates some problems. However, Weiss and the Braves seem dead set on keeping him in the rotation, so it is basically a moot point.
However, that doesn't mean that Holmes and Smith-Shawver couldn't combine forces to make that decision work. If Atlanta were feeling brave (get it?! I'll see myself out), they could firmly declare that Holmes would get the first three innings and then the team pulls him no matter how well he is playing after that in favor of Smith-Shawver, who would then go as far as he can.
There are some problems with this arrangement, chiefly being that a rigid arrangement like that seems to leave the bullpen an arm short on non-Holmes start days. However, with Holmes going just three innings, he would basically be a long reliever and, in theory, be available on some days where he isn't starting. Of course, that would depend on how recently he threw. There could also be days where AJSS may be available, such as getting pulled early for whatever reason or avoiding him altogether in games that look like blowouts.
It is a difficult puzzle to solve, but there is a path to make this work out well. A handcuffing situation could end up preserving the rest of the bullpen better, assuming that both Holmes and Smith-Shawver can throw enough innings in their appearances. Unfortunately, it seems more likely that the Braves will just stick with Holmes in the rotation and give Smith-Shawver a standard bullpen role. Atlanta may find that making that path go where they want it to is easier said than done.
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