Smith-Shawver has been dominating the competition as of late. He looks to continue today against the Nationals
The Atlanta Braves are facing the Washington Nationals in a day game as they play their seventh game of the season where winning would put them at .500. They are 1-5 in those opportunities.
AJ Smith-Shawver, or AJSS as fans have come to call him, is looking to continue his hot streak. It has been an incredible story for Smith-Shawver this season. He had mixed results to start the season with a 4.61 ERA after his first three starts and giving up nineteen hits during that timeframe, which resulted in him being optioned on April thirteenth.
Since he was called back up to pitch on April twenty-ninth he has pitched 19.0 innings, including an 8.0 inning start, of 1.42 ERA and 3.10 FIP. Hitters are slashing .154/.236/.200 against him during that span. To be fair, these starts were against the Rockies, Reds, and Pirates. He also has had BABIP luck with hitters having a .191, but his results have been impressive, nonetheless.
The Braves’ offense is still struggling, but over the past week they have scored twenty-six runs. This is not exactly the type of output to be excited about, but it does rank them sixteenth in MLB over that span, which is a far cry from how they have been performing on the season.
They will be facing Trevor Williams who has struggled to a 5.88 ERA and 1.57 WHIP over his 41.1 IP this season. Williams has had some terrible luck in the ERA department. According to Statcast he has an expected ERA (xERA) of a much lower 3.89. We have also seen his bad luck with hitters having a wOBA of .357 against an expected wOBA (xwOBA) of .321.
Many of the Braves have seen Trevor Williams quite a bit. Marcell Ozuna has thirty-three ABs and has a .333 and .735 OPS against him. Ozzie Albies has also been successful in sixteen ABs with a .313 average and .791 OPS. Austin Riley has struggled to a .111 average against him in eighteen ABs.
Will the Braves be able to get back to that .500 mark in this early game? First pitch is at 12:15 EDT.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, May 15, 12:15 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