|
Post by wncbravesfan on May 29, 2023 8:49:24 GMT -5
Shuster LHP 1 - 2|5.33 ERA
vs
Kaprielian RHP 0 - 5|8.45 ERA
|
|
|
Post by Fumbduckery on May 31, 2023 4:33:40 GMT -5
Call me crazy, I’m almost giddy, I think we actually have a chance to win this one!
|
|
|
Post by Fumbduckery on May 31, 2023 8:48:24 GMT -5
Moylan is the biggest suck up to ever set foot in any broadcast booth, and that’s saying a lot because most of them do that. For a guy who was in the big leagues he adds almost completely nothing to the broadcast and just sits there kissing butt all night. He actually had the nerve to say last night that Snitker does a great job of getting ABs for the bench players so they stay sharp. There’s never been a manager who is worse at that than Snitker.
Ask Hilliard about that, or Adrianza, or Cullberson, or any of the other long line of players who sat and rusted during Snitkers reign of idiocy.
Speaking of Cullberson, I didn’t realize these were his slashes at Gwinnett this year before we called him up:
.204/.234/.255/.489
What in the world???
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on May 31, 2023 8:58:29 GMT -5
Scuffling Braves call up 20-year-old top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver to help bullpen David O'Brien
OAKLAND — AJ Smith-Shawver was a Texas high school senior two years ago, a football-first guy who only started pitching a year before that. And here he was Tuesday, called to the major leagues by the Braves after just 110 minor-league innings in 28 starts, with only five of those games above Single A.
That’s what can happen if you’ve got a big arm and the Braves have a big need, in this case, their struggling bullpen. Then again, given how the past two nights have gone in Oakland, where the Braves lost 2-1 Tuesday for the second consecutive defeat against a team that was 10-45 before Atlanta arrived, a fresh bullpen arm suddenly doesn’t seem like their only need.
Closer Raisel Iglesias walked three of the first four Oakland batters in the ninth, and the A’s got a stunning walk-off win over the NL East leaders when third baseman Austin Riley bobbled and dropped a Jonah Bride one-out fielder’s choice grounder before throwing late to the plate.
“I just in-between hopped it, it got in on me a little bit,” Riley said. “You know, it’s unfortunate.”
“It wasn’t that (error), it was our inability to score,” said manager Brian Snitker, whose Braves have lost four of their past five games and 12 of 19 to shrink their division lead to four over the Mets and Marlins. “It’s tough. I mean, we got a great start (from Bryce Elder), Mint (reliever A.J. Minter) came in and did a really good job. Iggy didn’t have it. And we didn’t score enough runs, obviously. Just got to get the bats going again.”
Elder allowed five hits and one run and in 7 1/3 innings and reduced his ERA to 1.92, the lowest among qualified major-league starters. But the young perfectionist was disappointed to issue three walks, and Elder was more upbeat talking about the arrival of fellow Texan Smith-Shawver, who is only 20 and will be the youngest Brave to pitch in a game since Julio Teheran in 2011.
“It’s pretty cool,” Elder said. “I worked out with him one offseason, I think he was 18, and he’s kind of one of those kids who doesn’t seem like he’s as young as he is. He’s mature, his body’s mature, he’s mentally mature, so I really look forward to seeing him pitch. I think he’s going to be really successful this year and have a really long career.”
The game was in the second inning when Smith-Shawver made it to the field to join his new teammates in the bullpen, after being told earlier in the day in Norfolk, Virginia — where Triple-A Gwinnett started a series — that he’d been called to the majors. He caught a 4:30 p.m. flight to Oakland.
“(Braves farm director) Ben Sestanovich gave me a call as soon as I got to Norfolk,” Smith-Shawver said, “and I got on a plane and headed this way. But right before that, I called my parents and let them know, ‘Hey, all the hard work we’ve put in, we’re here.’ Get the opportunity, now it’s just time to try to stay here, and just execute pitches.”
He added, “I’ve just been really blessed, and I’m really excited to be here. I think it’s a good opportunity being around a bunch of guys that have been around the game for a long time. There’s a lot I can learn from these guys.”
Exclusively a starter in his 28 minor-league games, he’ll begin his big-league career in the bullpen, where the Braves think his repertoire — 95-98 mph fastballs, nasty sliders, much-improved curveball, occasional changeup — could provide a boost.
“Nothing surprises me anymore, how quick these guys advance up the ladder and do well,” Snitker said before Tuesday’s game.
A longtime former minor-league manager and player development man, Snitker comes from an era when even most top prospects spent at least three to five years in the minors, an era that is disappearing quickly if not already gone.
Smith-Shawver has a 1.09 ERA in seven starts at three levels this season, with 45 strikeouts and 12 walks in 33 innings, while allowing 19 hits including one homer. He made three scoreless starts at High-A Rome, two more scoreless outings at Double-A Mississippi, and gave up four runs in 12 innings in two Triple-A starts before the call-up — which surprised most people, given his lack of experience in the high minors.
The Braves designated veteran reliever Lucas Luetge for assignment to open a roster spot for Smith-Shawver after Luetge allowed three runs and recorded one out in Monday’s loss, ballooning his ERA to 10.24. Smith-Shawver last pitched in relief a few times in summer ball in high school but was looking forward to this opportunity. Even he was surprised to get the call this soon.
“Best-case scenario I was thinking (this season),” he said. “But I mean, I don’t think in my best-case scenario I could have planned it out to be (this early). It’s great to see that they are going to give young guys like me opportunities, and I’m just grateful.
“I don’t know, it’s kind of surreal. The Braves have just a lot of people that helped me develop and really kind of guided me. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I first got into it, and I think the guys around this organization really gave me the right tools to compete.”
The Braves DFA’d a soft-tossing 36-year-old lefty in Luetge and added a big — 6-foot-3, 210 pounds — and athletic right-hander with a live arm who was throwing footballs in Texas long before throwing fastballs from pitcher’s mounds.
“He’s already ran a bunch of levels this summer,” Snitker said of Smith-Shawver, laughing softly about the almost preposterous speed of the prospect’s ascent. “But he’s gotten results, and his stuff’s been really good, reports are really good and all that. And as we’ve seen, stuff and skills play up here.”
The Braves promoted Spencer Strider four times in his first and only minor-league season in 2021, moving him from Low A on Opening Day to High A, Double A and Triple A in a total of 22 games, including 21 starts, before his MLB debut in a relief role in the final series of the regular season. Strider was 22 at the time, having pitched at Clemson.
Smith-Shawver is three months older than Teheran was before his big-league debut. Teheran signed at 16 and pitched three minor-league seasons when the Braves called him up. Smith-Shawver was an accomplished high school quarterback who might’ve played two sports at Texas Tech if the Braves hadn’t signed him to a bonus of $997,500 — nearly five times the seventh-round pick’s slot value.
The strides he’s made in the past year, including the development of his curveball and adjustments to his delivery to smooth some of the rough edges, put him in a position for the Braves to take the plunge and see if the kid can help them.
“He’s a young kid we’re going to put in the bullpen, pitch him out of there for a while, kind of like we did Spencer last year,” Snitker said. “Try to get him multiple innings when we can. I think his future’s going to be starting, but it’s a way to kind of break him in. He’s throwing the ball really well, stuff’s really good. I’ve seen him just briefly in spring training a couple of times. It’s a really nice arm.
“I’d be surprised if he doesn’t make a start this year at some point in time before it’s all said and done. That being said, if he does that and he’s already had some experience taking the mound before, I think it’ll be an easier transition for him.”
Smith-Shawver doesn’t know Strider well but said he was one of the first to contact him Tuesday.
“It was really cool, he reached out to me as soon as I got the news,” Smith-Shawver said. “Just told me if I have any questions, go ask him. ‘No question’s a dumb question.’ It’s just nice to have the guys coming out and helping me through this whole process.”
Strider began the 2022 season in Atlanta’s bullpen and made seven relief appearances before shifting to the starting rotation in late May, where he has been an elite performer with the highest strikeout rate of any MLB starter. Now, the Braves will throw another young fireballer into the mix.
Smith-Shawver began pitching as a junior at Colleyville (Texas) Heritage High School in 2020. He was still learning to harness his power stuff a year ago, when he had a 5.11 ERA in 17 starts at a Low-A Augusta, piling up an impressive 103 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings, but issuing 39 walks. After he was drafted in 2021, he had an 8.64 ERA in four starts in rookie ball, with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks in 8 1/3 innings.
He’s had significant improvement each season, indicative of someone who only began focusing on pitching a few years ago.
“I was playing a little bit of third base in high school,” Smith-Shawver said. “Nothing too crazy, just going out there having fun with my buddies. And it just kind of all had a little swing to it.”
The swing went toward pitching after he realized how well he could do it. Football eventually was pushed to the side.
“Yeah, that’s where my head was my junior year before I started to really get into pitching — I thought I was going to be a football player,” he said. “But it’s funny how things work out.”
|
|
|
Post by wncbravesfan on May 31, 2023 13:49:50 GMT -5
Braves lineup for the series finale in Oakland:
RF Acuña Jr. 1B Olson 3B Riley C d’Arnaud DH Ozuna LF Rosario 2B Albies SS Arcia CF Harris II
LHP Jared Shuster
|
|
|
Post by Hart's Middle Finger on May 31, 2023 14:35:26 GMT -5
So I guess that the concept of having both Murphy and d'Naud's bats in the lineup at the same time has just been permanently shelved....
it's funny how no one can seem to look at the losing 12 of the last 19 games; in anyway, correlates with Marcel Ozuna playing every game.
|
|
|
Post by Hart's Middle Finger on May 31, 2023 14:42:53 GMT -5
Keep it up boys.... remember there is only one way to swing:
For the fences.... if you're not popping it up, you're not doing it right.
|
|
|
Post by Hart's Middle Finger on May 31, 2023 14:44:21 GMT -5
Next time through the order, I hope the top 3 uppercut a bit more.
|
|
|
Post by bourjosgeorge on May 31, 2023 14:45:42 GMT -5
These non-speaking donkeys are at it again. Swinging with every ounce of strength and getting out against Mr. Koufax.
|
|
|
Post by Hart's Middle Finger on May 31, 2023 14:47:56 GMT -5
Nice bookend of errors....
last play of last game.. first play of this game...
PM calls a ball hit right at Arcia "a tough error"
|
|
|
Post by TomlinFoolery on May 31, 2023 14:57:13 GMT -5
Popoout, popout, popout, strikeout, strikeout thus far. Lovely
|
|
|
Post by bourjosgeorge on May 31, 2023 14:58:40 GMT -5
Nice pitching, Mr. Koufax.
|
|
|
Post by keystone61 on May 31, 2023 15:08:40 GMT -5
This Oakland staff. I have no words. They're unbelievably dominating.
|
|
hokiedan
AA prospect
Hokie - Anthropomorphic turkey-like bird
Posts: 1,384
Likes: 245
|
Post by hokiedan on May 31, 2023 15:14:29 GMT -5
Yeah...Acuna was a much better ballplayer when he wasn't trying to hit it out on every pitch.
|
|
|
Post by bourjosgeorge on May 31, 2023 15:15:08 GMT -5
Now we have 2nd grade pitching and kindergarten defense.
|
|