Why could the oblique injury of AJ Smith-Shawver in the end be a good thing

The brave of Atlanta have many hopes of promising launchers, perhaps not more than AJ Smith-Shawver.

The young right -hander launched four rounds and third without goal yesterday when it started in 2024, disconcerting the chicago cubs strikers with its rapid ball higher than the 90s and a considerably improved change which earned it two stick withdrawals in the first round and generated three of its nine puffs in the match. A large part of the post-match discussion focused on whether or not he had obtained another departure next week, the consensus being that it would be obtained, because its ceiling was higher than that of the 5th leaving Previous (Bryce Elder) or one of the other triple options. -A gwinnett.

But the discussions on the next departure of Smith-Shawver passed on the night light on Friday morning with the news that He had been placed on the wounded list with a tense left oblique. He will be absent for at least fifteen days, even if the team has not revealed the seriousness of the injury.

It could be a good thing, in the end.

Smith-Shawver was considered a promising candidate for rotation for the 2024 season. The reason why he did not obtain a job of holder in major leagues after spring training is explained by two factors: the options veteran waiting for him in Atlanta and workload problems.

As a multisports recruit who has only become a full-time launcher that after having become the choice of 7th round of Atlanta during the draft of the MLB 2021, Smith-Shawver did not work on a long story of experience in the baseball. For this reason, he has never recorded a number of rounds in the MLB during his baseball career. He launched 8.1 rounds after being drafted, all in recruit balls, then 68.2 round-A in August 2022 and a total of eighty-round in 2023 between minors (62 IP), The adults (25.1) and the playoffs (2.2). ).

(On the other hand, the choice of first round of Atlanta last season, Hurston Waldreplaunched a total of 131 rounds last season between the university and minor leagues, while Bryce elderThe first full season of in the majors saw him launch a total of 177 rounds and he obviously exhausted at the end of the year.)

As promising as its beginnings in 2024 yesterday – 4.1 -sleeves aimlessly with four stick withdrawals, giving only three strokes and walking two – the question remains open how long Smith -Shawver could stay in rotation and launch all five (or sixth) days. . By combining his time in Gwinnett this season (31 IP) with the departure of yesterday, it is already at 35.1 rounds and if you suppose a maximum increase in the workload of fifty rounds, it already remains only a hundred for the 2024 season.

There is potentially a solution here: send it back to the minor leagues. The Miami Marlins did it last season with the Recruit Eury Perez phenomenon and now do it with the promising young person Max Meyer. The two launchers received a reduced number of throws in triple-a, Perez being recalled in mid-season and Meyer still working for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

It is simply not proven that it works. Perez is currently absent after needing surgery in Tommy John this spring.

No, this placement on the injured list could eventually work better to Smith-Shawver. If the injury is minor – and everything indicates that this is probably the case, because it launched at 98 MPH during his last round of work before leaving the match – then a few weeks of stopping the competition before resuming at the end of June could be more. Benefit that to grant him additional rest and workloads artificially reduced among minors. This will also allow him to spend more of these “bullets” in the major leagues, where he can contribute to the success of the team, rather than working hard in minor league games essentially devoid of meaning, in the big scheme of things .

With the injury of the veteran Spencer Strider, absent for the year after a elbow operation, Atlanta has an opening for an additional holder in the playoffs when they reach October. If Smith-Shawver is managed properly during the regular season, he demonstrated the caliber of a contributor in October.