After a grinder of a series in Philadelphia, the schedule for the Braves unfortunately does not lighten up with the Rays coming to Truist Park, and Tampa Bay would draw first blood in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

The offense — as has been the case more often than not for a long time — couldn’t get anything going. They mustered just one run, and when that happens, there’s basically no chance of winning. I will say they hit the ball hard everywhere, but it was one of those nights where nothing could find a hole or green grass.

Still, they have to find a way to be better down the stretch. They are performing nowhere near their potential, and if things don’t take a turn for the better quickly, they’ll be headed for another first-round exit come October.

The story of the night, though, was AJ Smith-Shawver — and not in a good way. The 23-year-old was making his fifth start for the Braves since returning from Tommy John surgery, and just about every outing has looked like a mirror image of the last. He’s still throwing way too many uncompetitive pitches, giving up too many free passes, and can’t miss bats consistently.

Junior Caminero and Liam Hicks provided most of the damage against Smith-Shawver with two home runs. He would only allow four runs in total but needed 81 pitches to get through just 3.1 innings.

Smith-Shawver now owns a 7.71 ERA this season. He’s averaging just over 4.0 innings per start, giving up nearly 11 hits per nine innings, 5.6 walks, and 1.7 home runs. Those numbers are gaudy in any scenario, and they are especially discouraging when you’re unable to strike guys out — he’s averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Braves understandably would like to give AJ Smith-Shawver as much runway as possible leading up to the postseason. There’s a world where his talented arm could give them something, especially over an extended seven-game series. And everybody should be reminded it’s his fifth start since spending 14 months on the shelf. It should be expected that he’s not anywhere close to the top of his game.

But continuing to trot him out as a starting pitcher doesn’t make a lot of sense right now. The Braves did lose Bryce Elder to knee surgery, which takes away an option in the rotation, but they are gaining one in Reynaldo Lopez. That gives them five quality starters who can take the team the rest of the way as they try to finish off the division.

Smith-Shawver could still have a role for this club out of the bullpen. Opponents are hitting just .111 against him with a .576 OPS in the first inning. But as a starting pitcher this year, it’s probably best for the Braves to continue with their other options.

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(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)