Braves RHP AJ Smith-Shawver diagnosed with torn UCL, placed on 60-day injured list
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Braves rookie right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver has a torn UCL in his pitching elbow, the team said Friday.
Smith-Shawver left Thursday's 5–4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in a doubleheader opener and said he felt a 'pop.' The 22-year-old was initially placed on the 15-day injured list before being moved to the 60-day IL on Friday.
'(His evaluation) showed a tear on his imaging,' Braves manager Brian Snitker said before Atlanta opened a three-game series against Boston. 'He'll consult with the physicians or doctors and they'll decide what the next step is.'
Snitker said he didn't know if Smith-Shawver would need Tommy John surgery.
On Thursday, Smith-Shawver appeared to say 'pop' toward Snitker after a third-inning pitch to Trea Turner. He gave up a go-ahead, two-run homer to Rafael Marchán, then took a 96.6 mph line drive off his right ankle on a a ball hit by Bryson Stott with one out.
Smith-Shawver threw a warmup pitch and stayed in the game, then left after wincing while allowing a flyout to Turner on the fourth pitch of the at-bat.
Smith-Shawver is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in nine starts and 44 1/3 innings, striking out 42 and walking 21.
'It's tough for all (young pitchers) when it happens,' Snitker said. 'Especially where he was, feeling good about himself and throwing good.'
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Where Mark Richt, Kirby Smart rank among the 2000s top college football coaches
Where Mark Richt, Kirby Smart rank among the 2000s top college football coaches The Athletic released their top 25 coaches of the 21st century and the Georgia Bulldogs had two of their three coaches from the 21st century earn spots on the list. Georgia coaches have garnered 258 wins since 2000, the fifth most wins of any team in the nation behind Oklahoma, Boise State, Alabama and Ohio State. That's not to mention the amount of drafted players Georgia has had in the 21st century. Both of Georgia's highly-ranked coaches (Mark Richt and Kirby Smart) have ushered in eras of impressive growth and domination. Where Georgia Bulldogs coaches rank in The Athletic's top 25: Record: 145-51 Richt was hired by the Georgia Bulldogs after six stellar seasons as Florida State's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. He took a Georgia team struggling to meet expectations and while he never made a national championship with Georgia, he raised the expectations tremendously. In 2007, the Bulldogs finished as the No. 2 team in the country, and in 2012, they were only five yards and potentially one play away from winning the SEC and going to the national championship. It's a shame he only coached with Georgia for two years of the College Football Playoff era. He also earned props for his time at Miami, coaching the Hurricanes to two top-20 finishes and the No. 2 ranking at one point in 2017. "The only thing holding Richt's resume back was never winning the Big One," said Chris Vannini of the Athletic. Accomplishments: Two SEC championships, eight top-10 finishes, four BCS/NY6 appearances, 18 bowl games No. 4: Kirby Smart (2016-present) Record: 109-19 It speaks to how good Kirby Smart is that the odds are in his favor to reach 100 wins in his tenure before reaching 20 losses. Kirby is the highest active coach on this list for good reason. In just eight years with Georgia, he transformed the team from perennial teases to championship contenders. He led Georgia to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022, which is an unbelievable feat considering the history of Georgia Bulldogs football and Georgia sports in general. His biggest flaw as a coach was usually failing to win against his old team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and his old coach, Nick Saban. However, Smart got the best of Saban in the 2021 national championship, officially cementing him as one of the best coaches of not just the 21st century, but all time. Smart is ranked behind just Pete Carroll (No. 3), Urban Meyer (No. 2) and Nick Saban (No. 1).


Associated Press
17 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls
WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police Department said. A police news released noted that it is unknown if Decker, a former military member, is armed. On Friday, the mother of the girls, ages 9, 8 and 5, reported to police that their father didn't return them after a planned visit, police said. Over the weekend, police looked for the children and Decker, who was believed to be living out of a white 2017 GMC Sierra pickup truck with Washington plates. Decker's unoccupied truck was located Monday near a campground, police said. During a search, officers found the bodies of the three girls. A search began for Decker. Anyone who may have seen Decker since Friday or knows his current location is asked to call 911. 'Due to safety concerns do not attempt to contact or approach Decker,' police said.

Associated Press
17 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Thunder have 5 players on the court. The way they see it, 18,000 helpers are in the stands
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — There is something different about Oklahoma City Thunder fans, and players aren't afraid to say that. The crowd of 18,000 or so always arrives early. They stay late. They show up in the middle of the night at the airport to welcome the Thunder charter flight home and maybe get a wave or a fist bump from a player, even though a chain-link fence separates the team from the fans. It's like a college atmosphere at Thunder games at times. It will be a raucous atmosphere on Thursday: Game 1 of the NBA Finals is coming to Oklahoma City, and the top-seeded Thunder — big favorites over the Indiana Pacers in this series — freely say that the fans have factored into the team's success. 'I think the fans put the wind at our players' backs,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'There's not a level of judgment. There's no level of skepticism.' It is ... well, unusual. In a good way. Daigneault tells the story of a game on Oct. 26, 2021, as one of the best illustrations of what the relationship is like between the city and its team. The Thunder were 0-3 to start that season, the three losses by 21, 33 and 12 points. Golden State visited Oklahoma City that night; the Thunder led by 11 at the half, before eventually losing by eight. 'They gave us a standing ovation at the end of the game,' Daigneault said. 'And it was a week into the season. We had not won a game. As great as they are right now, and they are unbelievable right now, that's the one that I always go back to because it really struck me. It certainly was unexpected.' The Thunder have given fans plenty of reasons to cheer since. They're a league-best 43-7 at home this season; the last four teams to win at least 40 home games in a full season — Toronto in 2018-19, Golden State in 2021-22, Denver in 2022-23 and Boston last season — went on to win the NBA title. And this year's club is winning home games by an average of 16.9 points per contest. That's on pace to be the second-biggest such differential in NBA history, behind Milwaukee's 18.1-point average home margin in 1970-71. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said keeping the home crowd happy is on his mind all the time, and he was thinking of it when the Thunder closed out Minnesota at home in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last week. 'I didn't want to go back to Minnesota, travel-wise,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'And then I wanted the fans to be able to enjoy the moment with us. I wanted them to be able to see it unfold in front of their eyes. I wanted them to be to celebrating in our building, go home, get drunk, whatever they do. I wanted them to have fun with the moment. ... I just wanted to make sure I could give my energy and my effort to try to give these fans what they deserve.' ___ AP NBA: