Following last night’s game, Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Justin Toscano reported that Braves top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver will toe the rubber against the Cubs on Thursday.
AJ Smith-Shawver will start for the Braves Thursday
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) May 23, 2024
The Braves need two new starters for today and tomorrow. One to fill Bryce Elder‘s spot, and a sixth one because they had a doubleheader on Monday.
AJ Smith-Shawver caught fire last year as a prospect, beginning the year in High-A Rome and quickly working his way to the majors in just a matter of months. He went on to make six appearances for the Braves, recording a 4.26 ERA over 25.1 innings and even made the NLDS roster.
It was quite the year for Smith-Shawver, who became the Braves top overall prospect and joined almost every top 100 prospect list coming into the season. However, 2024 hasn’t gone quite the way he might have hoped, at least from a statistical perspective.
AJ Smith-Shawver has made eight starts for the Gwinnett Stripers, boasting an unsightly 6.10 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. So, why would the Braves call him up now?
There could be a couple of reasons for that. First and foremost, the Braves desperately needed extra arms to make some spot starts this week, so why not give their most talented pitcher in Gwinnett a chance? Secondly, it’s possible Smith-Shawver has been working on specific things in AAA, and the Braves saw enough improvement in those areas to feel comfortable giving him this opportunity.
Whatever the reason, Smith-Shawver is one of the most talented arms in the entire system. The Braves would love nothing more for him to impress today and never look back, ending this revolving door they’ve had at the back of the rotation for the last several years.
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Angel Stadium is apparently doing its best impression of Oakland Coliseum. The Los Angeles Angels hosted the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon for a game at their Anaheim, California, home. It was the Rays who emerged victorious by a 5-4 final score, turning in some impressive plays along the way as well. After the loss by the Angels, the baseball gods continued to rain on them … literally. While reporters were gathered in the media room waiting for Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery to give his press conference, the roof in the room was noticeably leaking, resulting in water puddling on the floor and on a nearby trash can. Sam Blum of The Athletic shared the footage, noting that Montgomery’s press conference was ultimately moved to a different room. Angel Stadium opened back in 1966 and has served the home of the Angels ever since (also notably housing several other professional and collegiate teams, including the Los Angeles Rams from 1980-94). But it is clear that some renovations are badly needed at this point (beyond the trash can that appeared to have been intentionally placed under the leak to deal with the dripping water). Angels owner Arte Moreno, who has owned the team since 2003, is often accused of penny-pinching, particularly when it comes to resources and accommodations. Now that Angel Stadium looks to be slowly falling apart as well, perhaps Moreno will call for cups to be taped to the ceiling like other MLB teams have done before to stop leaks.
The Green Bay Packers are not done adding wide receivers. The team drafted Matthew Golden and Savion Williams, signed Will Sheppard, but also added another rookie—Isaiah Neyor, a big-bodied, undrafted receiver who had signed with the San Francisco 49ers right after the draft. Neyor spent three months in San Francisco and had a quiet training camp, which led to the team's decision to waive him, but it was enough time to catch the attention of star tight end George Kittle. Going back to June, in an interview with Bussin' with the Boys, Kittle talked about Neyor. "He's a good kid. I like him. He's a freak. He is really tall, and I watched him running a route, he got like nine and a half yards in two strides," Kittle mentioned. "It was insane. We watched it like ten times in the tight end room. We were like, how is he doing this? It's funny." The rookie has an insane athletic profile. He's 6-4, 218 pounds, and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash. With a 9.97 incomplete Relative Athletic Score, he had elite size, explosion, and speed grades—but no agility testing information. "If you're that tall, just make plays and do well on special teams. Right?," Kittle added. "At the bare minimum, you should make the practice squad." Positional battle With two weeks of training camp gone, Isaiah Neyor will have a hard time to make the 53-man roster. The Packers have Golden, Williams, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Dontayvion Wicks as locks. Veterans Mecole Hardman and Malik Heath are also ahead of the rookies. Even players like Cornelius Johnson and Julian Hicks, who spent last season on the practice squad, have a natural advantage. Christian Watson is expected to start the season on PUP, so he won't count against the 53-man for at least four weeks. However, both undrafted rookies (Neyor and Sheppard) have a real shot at making at least the practice squad. In Neyor's case, the 49ers expected him to be around—so much that they guaranteed him $259,000 as an undrafted free agent signing. But with injuries all over the wide receiver room, the Niners needed spots for veteran guys—they have players like Robbie Chosen, Russell Gage, and former Packer Equanimeous St. Brown on the 90-man roster. As a consequence, they lacked space for developmental pieces. With two drafted rookies in Jordan Watkins and Junior Bergen, Neyor became an afterthought. On the Packers, though, the rookie will have another chance to prove that George Kittle was right.
The Dallas Cowboys have a big problem on their hands right now. Micah Parsons has formally requested to be traded, and he took to social media to vent his concerns and frustration with his contract extension situation. However, team owner Jerry Jones isn't ready to budge. If anything, the controversial business mogul doesn't sound too worried about that. Talking to the media, he implied that he had already shaken hands on an extension with Parsons, so he just has to wait now: "I bought the Dallas Cowboys with a handshake," Jones said, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. "It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later." Jones, one of the most successful businessmen of his generation, pretty much stated that he wouldn't change the way he does business. "Just so you understand the way that I communicate with people that I negotiate with. Let's leave it at that," Jones continued. "There's is no question that in the case of a player contract, you have to have it in writing. All parties do. We have a contract in writing, yet we're still talking about renegotiating, so so much for that." Parsons has every right to feel frustrated. He's one of the best pass-rushers in the game, and he's the youngest in the short list of superstars at the position. The Cowboys have a long history of dragging out negotiations for as long as they can, and that's usually rubbed their players the wrong way. Parsons is still under contract, and the Cowboys can technically wait to give him an extension because the market isn't likely to go any higher after T.J. Watt already got a deal done. But sometimes, it's not just about money, and these power struggles are terrible for team morale.
Kevin Love is eyeing a return to his roots. The five-time NBA All-Star big man Love has a preferred destination on the buyout market, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Tuesday. Love would like to end up in Los Angeles. Now 36 years old, Love spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Miami Heat. He averaged just 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over 10.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 but still managed to shoot 35.8 percent from three on the year. Earlier this summer however, the Heat traded Love to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team blockbuster deal. Now Love, a 17-year NBA veteran, is pursuing a contract buyout from the rebuilding Jazz. Though he is a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Love played his college ball in Los Angeles at UCLA. He also has ties to both L.A. teams — he won an NBA championship with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and was also coached on that team by Tyronn Lue, who is now head coach of the L.A. Clippers. Both the Lakers and Clippers are currently sitting at 14 guaranteed contracts each. While they still have spots for two-way and Exhibit 10 players, that means the Lakers and Clippers are both down to their final open roster spot. The ex-rebounding leader Love still has some value, though probably more so as a jokester than as a contributing rotation piece. While Love clearly wants a homecoming to Los Angeles, he may have some convincing to do for either the Lakers or the Clippers to give him that final open roster spot.
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