Atlanta Braves starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL on Monday, the team confirmed. The procedure was performed by renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman originally reported the diagnosis hours after the Braves placed the Rookie of the Year candidate on the 60-day IL. He will miss the remainder of the 2025 MLB season in recovery from the injury.
The injury occurred during a Smith-Shawver’s start against the Philadelphia Phillies in late May. He encountered his first misfortune when a 96.6 mph line drive from Bryson Stott hit him in the ankle, but he remained in the game.
During his next few pitches to Trea Turner, Smith-Shawver started to wince and shake his arm. The Braves coaching staff appeared to notice the issue only after another pitcher, Spencer Strider, saw what was happening and pointed it out to them. Strider has his own experience with elbow issues, having missed most of 2024 with a torn UCL.
Turner flied out on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, and it was only after that when Smith-Shawver reportedly told Snitker he felt a “pop” in his elbow.
Smith-Shawver’s velocity was dropping significantly while all that was happening. His last pitch to Stott was a 95.8 mph four-seamer, a tick below every other four-seamer he had thrown that day. The velocity kept dropping against Turner, with his four-seamer going from 95.9 mph to 94.7 mph to 94.2 mph on the final pitch.
(Abdoul Sow via Getty Images)
Whether Braves coaches should have been more proactive — or aware — of Smith-Shawver’s troubles, the 22-year-old is a notable loss for a team trying to recover from a slow start.
Smith-Shawver was ranked as the No. 83 overall prospect by Baseball America entering this season and was off to a strong enough start that he was third in BetMGM’s NL Rookie of the Year odds when the injury occurred. Now, the Braves will have to wait until next year, at least, to see him on the mound again.