{"id":53389,"date":"2025-05-06T14:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389"},"modified":"2025-05-06T14:03:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:03:37","slug":"aj-smith-shawver-makes-history-two-braves-injury-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389","title":{"rendered":"AJ Smith-Shawver makes history, two Braves injury updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night\u2019s game might have featured the most important Braves development of the season to date, as 22-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver had the best performance of his young career, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a single to begin the frame ended the dream, but Smith-Shawver still finished eight innings of shutout ball while allowing just the one hit, making him the youngest pitcher to go 8+ innings while allowing just one hit since Michael Wacha back in 2013.<\/p>\n

\n

AJ Smith-Shawver (22 yrs, 166 days) is the youngest pitcher in MLB with a start of 8+ IP and 1\/0 H allowed since Michael Wacha on Sept. 24, 2013.<\/p>\n

\u2014 nugget chef (@jayhaykid) May 6, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Braves would go on to win the game thanks to a bunch of key plays from \u2014 stop me if you\u2019ve heard this recently \u2014 Alex Verdugo, Eli White, and Nick Allen. Those three have been so pivotal to Atlanta\u2019s recent success, and so has AJ Smith-Shawver. That\u2019s now three outstanding performances in a row, lowering his ERA on the season to an even 3.00.<\/p>\n

It seems Smith-Shawver is finally turning the proverbial corner, something this Braves rotation desperately needs with Spencer Strider and Reynaldo Lopez on the IL. There\u2019s been absolutely no consistency from any starting pitcher, outside of Grant Holmes, and while it\u2019s reasonable to expect guys like Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach to bounce back, the Braves still need more, especially until Strider returns.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Spencer Strider, the Braves provided a couple of injury updates on him and Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. prior to yesterday\u2019s game. Strider has progressed to throwing long toss. He\u2019s yet to throw off a mound, but that\u2019s the next step. If there are no setbacks, he could be back with the team in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

\n

#Braves\u2019 Spencer Strider progressed to long-toss this weekend, another key step towards his return from IL (hamstring). No timetable.<\/p>\n

\u2014 David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 5, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Acu\u00f1a\u2019s timeline isn\u2019t too dissimilar. The Braves announced he will begin a rehab assignment this month. Once that occurs, he\u2019ll also be just a couple of weeks away from rejoining the major-league club.<\/p>\n

\n

Update on Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. per #Braves \u2014 He will not go back to Los Angeles to see doctors again.<\/p>\n

The team had discussed it but it was decided in consultation with Dr. Neal ElAttrache today that Acu\u00f1a’s knee is good to go.<\/p>\n

He will begin his rehab assignment this month.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) May 5, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Photo: David J. Griffin\/Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n

\n

Share The Love<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night’s game might have featured the most important Braves development of the season to date, as 22-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver had the best<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nAJ Smith-Shawver makes history, two Braves injury updates - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AJ Smith-Shawver makes history, two Braves injury updates - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last night's game might have featured the most important Braves development of the season to date, as 22-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver had the best\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-06T14:03:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/avtvip-2025-05-06T210152.776.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=53389\",\"name\":\"AJ Smith-Shawver makes history, two Braves injury updates - 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