The Atlanta Braves enter spring training with a clear void in the backend of their starting rotation. The front office is bullish on Grant Holmes filling the void left by Charlie Morton, but that still leaves one open spot to round out the group.
Names like Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder will certainly get a look this spring, but it's probable the Braves' front office is hoping one of their top pitching prospects can take the job this spring. The top candidates among the prospect group are AJ Smith-Shawver and former first round pick Hurston Waldrep. Each will competing for a job this spring, and apparently each have been toying with a new pitch this offseason to get them over the hump.
Smith-Shawver and Waldrep each adding to their pitch arsenal
Each pitching prospect has taken the offseason as an opportunity to evaluate and attack getting better. For Waldrep that meant bringing back the curveball he threw in college. Waldrep said the curveball was originally ditched as an effort to get better with his slider.
Waldrep said he decided to bring the curveball back as a tool to get better against left-handed hitters. Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer were some of the pitchers he studied this offseason when looking to perfect the velocity and shape of his curveball.
We know how dominate his splitter can be at even the top level in baseball. However, Waldrep really needed another offering beyond the splitter to get hitters off his fastball. Hopefully bringing back the more vertical breaking curveball to tunnel with his top of the zone four-seamers will yield positive results in 2025.
AJ Smith-Shawver has previously shown signs where he can have four plus pitches when he's on top of his game. However, it's been a battle of inconsistency and health at the big league level for Smith-Shawver. When AJSS approached this offseason he wanted to focus on maintaining the body would be healthy entering spring training.
Along with that reports are he's been working on a cutter in an attempt to mix in another hard pitch. We saw how effective the sinker was for Spencer Schwellenbach was once he introduced that in the middle of last season. Perhaps another fastball with a bit more movement will serve Smith-Shawver's pitch mix well. However, the Braves top prospect just turned 22 years-old a few months ago and is still learning the nuisances of pitching altogether.
That's why it's important for fans to remain patient with both this new "cutter" and Smith-Shawver's development as a whole. Regardless, the top two pitching prospects in Atlanta's system both seem motivated to capture a rotation spot this spring. We'll have to see if either of these new pitches propel them onto the Opening Day roster.