Player Profile: AJ Smith-Shawver

AJ Smith-Shawver was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 20, 2002. He played high school baseball at Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, TX. He was the top-ranked third baseman and the 17th-ranked overall player in Texas. At Colleyville Heritage, he played baseball and football. He was the football team’s quarterback, and he passed for 2,616 yards and had 25 touchdowns in his senior year. Smith-Shawver had stopped pitching in high school as he focused on being the quarterback and playing football. He hit .344 with 20 RBI playing third base. Smith-Shawver was ranked the country’s sixth-ranked third baseman and 151^st overall player. He committed to play college baseball and football at Texas Tech University.

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AJ Smith-Shawver Draft

Smith-Shawver was the 206th overall prospect entering the 2021 draft, and the Atlanta Braves would select him in the seventh round. He decided to forego college and football and became a professional baseball player with the Braves.

AJ Smith-Shawver Braves Tenure

2021

Smith-Shawver played with the Braves’ rookie ball team and made four starts, going 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA, a 1.68 WHIP, a 2.2 HR/9, a 10.8 BB/9, and a 17.3 K/9 in 8.1 innings.

2022

Smith-Shawver played the whole season at Single-A Augusta, making 17 starts, going 3-4 with a 5.11 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP, a 0.5 HR/9, a 5.1 BB/9, and a 13.5 K/9 in 68.2 innings.

2023

Smith-Shawver spent time across three levels with High-A Rome, Double-A Mississippi, and Triple-A Gwinnett; he also made his major league debut with the Braves. He made 15 starts in the minors, going 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, a 0.6 HR/9, a 4.8 BB/9, and an 11.5 K/9 in 62 innings. He made six appearances with the Braves with five starts, going 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, a 2.5 HR/9, a 3.9 BB/9, and a 7.1 K/9 in 25.1 innings.

2024

Smith-Shawver ranked as the 42nd prospect by Baseball America and the 69th by MLB Pipeline. He pitched at High-A Rome, Triple-A Gwinnett, and with Atlanta. In High-A, he made one start, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA, a 0.50 WHIP, and an 18.0 K/9. He would make 20 starts at Gwinnett, going 3-7 with a 4.86 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and a 10.8 K/9 in 87 innings. Smith-Shawver made one start with Atlanta, going 4.1 shutout innings, giving up three hits. He walked two and struck out four.