The Braves look to go above .500 again behind Smith-Shawver
After a postponed game last night, the Atlanta Braves will face off against the Washington Nationals in a game where the Braves are once again trying to surpass the .500 mark.
AJ Smith-Shawver has been on a heater lately. Since being called back up for his April twenty-ninth start, he has dominated his competition with hitters having a slash line of .141/.232/.188 with a 1.08 ERA and 0.840 WHIP. He has had some fortune with a BABIP of .180 against him, but he has still been impressive.
Because of the way the schedule has worked out, Smith-Shawver’s last start was against the Nationals. He looked like the dominant pitcher the Braves’ hoped he would be when they drafted him. With 6.0 innings pitched he only allowed two hits with zero earned runs and struck out six to only two walks.
With AJ Smith-Shawver being so early in his career, the Nationals’ hitters do not have a large sample size against him. However, they just faced him recently. Luis García Jr. has had the most success against Smith-Shawver with a 1.334 OPS in his three at-bats. No other player on the roster has more than five at-bats against Smith-Shawver.
The Nationals will bring Trevor Williams to the mound, who also faced AJ Smith-Shawver when these two teams met this month already. Williams went 4.1 innings where the Braves were able to score three earned runs against him by garnering five hits. On the season Williams currently has a 5.91 ERA and 1.533 WHIP. He expected ERA (xERA) is much lower at 3.62, so it should be pointed out that he has had some poor luck.
The Braves’ offense has clearly not lived up to expectations, but they were able to score four runs (three earned) against the Nationals the last time they faced Williams which could be enough if they do it again with how Smith-Shawver and the bullpen has been performing recently.
First pitch is at 6:45 EDT
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, May 22, 6:45 p.m. EDT
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: FanDuel Sports South, Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv (free)
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan