The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘It’s just an excuse to work harder’
Smith-Shawver will start season at Gwinnett but knows he’s in good spot.
LAKELAND, FLA. — This week, Braves manager Brian Snitker called AJ Smith-Shawver into the office and told him the club was optioning him.
He didn’t win the fifth starter job, which was a disappointment.
“It obviously isn’t a dream scenario for anybody, but it’s part of it,” Smith-Shawver said Friday. “You go to take it and keep working. It’s just an excuse to work harder.”
But the meeting also was encouraging because of what the coaches told Smith-Shawver.
“Just that I’ve made strides, and I still got to keep getting better,” he said of their message. “I’ll get my chance up there if I just keep throwing well.”
This probably is the correct outlook for Smith-Shawver’s time in big-league camp. Did he hope to make the opening day roster? Of course. But he’s still 21. He resumed pitching full-time only a few years ago.
In that way, he actually might be ahead of the curve in his development, and that is encouraging.
“I understand that I’m in a good position right now,” SmithShawver said. “I’m happy where I am. I just got to keep working. Just focusing on me and making sure that I’m getting better. If that happens, then I think I’m in a good spot. I know I’m in a good spot now. We have a great organization, we got great guys around me. I’m just excited for the future.”
Friday’s start in Lakeland against the Tigers showed one area that Smith-Shawver must attack. He got Tigers hitters to two strikes, but couldn’t finish them. He allowed five runs on eight hits over three innings.
“I feel like I just got to keep going out there and competing with my stuff, whatever I have that day, learn how to pitch with certain (levels of ) stuff,” he said. “Some days you’re not going to have everything, so just kind of going out there and being able to grind and get outs is important for me.”
A loaded (and not-sonormal) Lakeland lineup
At around 4 p.m. Friday, Apple’s navigation app said it would take around 2½ hours to go the 107 miles from CoolToday Park in North Port to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
Not surprisingly, the Braves often don’t send many regulars to Lakeland. But the fans saw a lot of them Friday.
Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Orlando Arcia and Jarred Kelenic made the trip to Lakeland to play the Tigers. Why did that happen?
“I begged,” Snitker joked. In all seriousness, Snitker said the schedule worked out that way. Had those five not made the trip, they would’ve had two off-days in a row because they didn’t play Thursday.
The Braves lost Friday’s game 6-1. Harris had two hits and Olson had the lone RBI.