“It doesn’t look good.”
Those four words from manager Brian Snitker hung like a dark cloud over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, as right-handed pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver was quickly flown back to Atlanta and placed on the injured list.
Smith-Shawver, the promising rookie right-hander with a sub-four ERA, said he “heard a pop” when delivering a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the third inning. No one can yet say if he’ll need Tommy John surgery, but Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported it was “likely” a season-ending injury.
The Braves, who are now 26-29, have no time to pout. They’ve got a dynamic young arm to replace in the rotation, and one baseball writer has a trade candidate for them to do so.
On Friday, FanSided’s Zach Pressnell named Cincinnati Reds right-hander Nick Martinez, who accepted a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer from his club before the season, as a potential rental acquisition for the Braves this summer.
“With (Smith-Shawver’s injury) in mind, a trade for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez would make a lot of sense,” Pressnell wrote.
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“Martinez has been excellent this season and sits on an expiring contract. The Braves would be able to use him for the rest of the season before potentially transitioning him back to a reliable bullpen arm if the starting rotation gets healthy.”
Martinez, 34, has a 3.48 ERA in 11 starts this season despite pitching in a high-scoring environment in Cincinnati. He’s not much of a strikeout guy, with only 42 in 64 2/3 innings, but he’s reliably available to give his team six innings a start.
There’s still a lot of time to go before the deadline, when Martinez would more likely be available than he is now. But the Braves may as well start calling around to prospective sellers.
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