American pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver, who was born on November 20, 2002, plays for the Major League Baseball (MLB) Atlanta Braves. In 2023, he made his MLB debut.
Smith-Shawver played football and baseball at Colleyville Heritage High School, where he was up in Colleyville, Texas.[1] In his senior year, he passed for 2,616 yards and 25 touchdowns as the starting quarterback for Colleyville Heritage. He gave up pitching to concentrate on football,[2] and after hitting.344 with 20 RBIs as a third baseman, the Dallas Morning News selected him All-Area.[3] Smith-Shawver committed to Texas Tech University to play football and baseball in college.
Smith-Shawver was chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft in 2021.[5] He signed a contract with the organization and was given a $997,500 over-slot signing bonus.[6][7] Smith-Shawver made four appearances for the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Braves after signing. The Augusta GreenJackets of Single-A played him during the 2022 season.[8][9] Pitching for the GreenJackets and in the FCL, Smith-Shawver concentrated on honing his slider.
Smith-Shawver started the season with the Rome Braves the next year.[11][12] He pitched three starts at the High-A level, giving up six hits in fourteen scoreless innings while striking out twenty-three and walking four.[13] Smith-Shawver was traded to the Mississippi Braves on May 2.[14] In two Double-A appearances, he gave up five hits in seven scoreless innings. [15] On May 19, he made his Triple-A debut with the Gwinnett Stripers, when he conceded his first earned runs of the 2023 season.