The Braves announced a couple of key injury updates Monday afternoon. Most notably, AJ Smith-Shawver underwent a successful Tommy John surgery.
RHP AJ Smith-Shawver today underwent Tommy John surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX. He will miss the remainder of the 2025 season.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2025
There were really only two routes for AJ Smith-Shawver to take after it was announced he suffered a torn UCL — InternalBrace surgery or Tommy John surgery.
Spencer Strider most recently went the InternalBrace route. It resulted in him returning to a major-league mound around 12 months after surgery. However, he hasn’t quite looked like the same guy since coming back, with his fastball still down a few ticks.
Tommy John surgery is the more popular route of the two and has been around for much longer. Nearly every pitcher these days has to undergo the procedure at some point in their career, and while it takes around 18 months to come back from, guys typically don’t have any issues once they do return. By going with Tommy John surgery, Smith-Shawver will not only miss the rest of this season, but likely all of next season as well.
In a bit of positive news, the Braves did announce that top prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. is set to begin his rehab assignment with the FCL Braves.
Nacho Alvarez Jr. today begins a rehabilitation assignment with the FCL Braves.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2025
This time last year, Alvarez was the Braves hottest prospect and even experienced a cup of coffee at the major-league level in the wake of an injury to Ozzie Albies. His struggles in that short stint combined with his injury to begin this season have caused a lot of people to forget about him, but he’s an advanced prospect that could potentially have an impact in Atlanta as early as this year.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
