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wMar 1, 2025; North Port, Florida, USA; A detail view of Atlanta Braves hat, sunglasses and glove in the dugout during the fifth inning at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Former Atlanta Braves First Rounder Added By A's

Originally posted on Oakland Athletics on SI
By Jason Burke | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The Athletics began the season the 2025 season with a lack of left-handed bullpen options, with veteran T.J. McFarland being the lone southpaw available on any given day. The bullpen has evolved as the A's added former Atlanta Brave Sean Newcomb in a trade with the Red Sox, while also bringing up Hogan Harris as a long relief option, and Ben Bowden more recently.

But this week the club has added another former Atlanta Braves prospect, this time Jared Shuster, off the waiver wire from the Chicago White Sox. Shuster was selected by the Braves in the first round, 25th overall, out of Wake Forest.

He made his MLB debut in 2023 with Atlanta as a starting pitcher, going 4-3 with a 5.81 ERA in 11 starts with a 1.50 WHIP. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox that offseason as part of the Aaron Bummer deal, and the Sox primarily used him as a multi-inning releiver, though he was on the bump in the first inning of four of his 39 appearances that year. He ended up with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.

This season with Chicago he has totaled 15 2/3 innings of work and an 8.04 ERA, along with a 2.04 WHIP. The one silver lining here is that his FIP sat at 2.92, thanks to his walk rate dropping to 6.1% in the limited sample and a well above average BABIP of .429 against him. In a small sample size, that can do a lot of damage to an ERA.

Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

That's some of the good news. On the flip side, he's not a huge strikeout guy, sitting at a 14.6% clip this season, and topping out at 17.4% last year. Statcast has him at five total offerings, though one of those is a sweeper that he's apparently thrown twice all year.

His changeup is his biggest weapon, and was being used nearly 37% of the time this season, leading to a batting average against of .250, and an xBA of .218. It has also been his big swing-and-miss pitch in all three seasons he's been in the big leagues. He mixes in a four-seam fastball and a slider for the large majority of his pitch mix, while he dabbles with a sinker.

His Stuff+ data on FanGraphs suggests that his arsenal overall isn't great, but his slider and changeup register as roughly league average. His location metrics suggest that he's pretty good at spotting his pitches, which is always something the A's coaches are happy to have.

The other positive attribute that the A's will try to harness here is that he has had a knack for limiting hard contact the past two seasons. In 2024, he ranked in the 81st percentile in average exit velocity (87.5 mph) as well as 94th in hard-hit rate (31.9%) across 73 1/3 innings.

This year, those stats have been even better, though he hasn't had enough innings to qualify for an official ranking. His average exit velocity sat at 84.8 mph, while his hard-hit was at 28.6%, both of which would rank near the 100th percentile with more innings. His chase% also ticked up to 31.3%, while his barrel% sat at 4.8%. Those are all positive signs, despite the ERA over eight.

He was also grabbing more ground balls with his arsenal this season with a 43.5% ground ball rate, which is something that could make him more effective at Sutter Health Park than a fly ball pitcher.

The hope here has to be that the A's can work with the 27-year-old on his sequencing in order to get better results. The underlying metrics pointed to a reliever that should be fairly effective, and he's still also a pre-arbitration option that the A's could consider heading into next season. It would be surprising if he doesn't get a look in West Sacramento before season's end.

This article first appeared on Oakland Athletics on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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