When Michael Soroka was optioned to the minors on Monday afternoon after he struggled in his second start since re-joining the Braves, it left a hole in the Braves rotation, one that the team had struggled to fill previously.
While the Braves rotation is set for the upcoming series with the Mets, the weekend series against the Washington Nationals is full of questionmarks, and it seems that newly-promoted prospect AJ Smith-Shawver is the answer to at least one of those questions according to Jeff Schultz of The Atheltic.
While the order for the starting pitching for Friday and Saturday is not yet determined, it seems that AJ Smith-Shawver and Jared Shuster will be the two guys throwing the first two games against the Nationals.
Smith-Shawver, who made his Braves debut on Sunday after Soroka exited his start, was able to throw 2.1 scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks, and will be fully rested if he is the choice to start on Friday.
Smith-Shawver made quite the impression as he progressed through the Braves organization, making just 2 starts at AA and 2 starts at AAA before being called up to the majors.