Yesterday was an exciting moment for the Braves fans. Not only did a ninth-inning, two-out grand slam off the bat of Eddie Rosario propel the team to victory, but 20-year-old rookie phenom AJ Smith-Shawver made his major-league debut in relief and shoved, tossing 2.1 hitless innings with three strikeouts.
The Braves look like they have another young star on their hands in Smith-Shawver, and they are also calling up another prospect ahead of their series versus the Mets, right-handed pitcher Roddery Muñoz, MLB insider Héctor Gómez reports.
Muñoz isn’t nearly as highly touted as AJ Smith-Shawver. MLB.com currently ranks him as the 21st-best prospect in the Braves system, which isn’t exactly encouraging, given how poor the system is overall. However, he does have some exciting offerings, beginning with his fastball, which can flirt with 100 MPH.
In AAA so far this season, Muñoz owns a 4.94 ERA over 27.1 innings. In all likelihood, he’s probably just holding a spot and won’t see the mound unless the game is way out of hand. What I’m most interested in is the corresponding move. Muñoz presence on the roster means another player has to be optioned or hit the IL. I’m interested to see if it is Soroka that gets sent down after a shaky performance against the Diamondbacks, opening up a spot in the rotation, which could potentially be filled by AJ Smith-Shawver.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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