AJ Smith-Shawver, Didier Fuentes and Ethan Bagwell will make starts for their minor league squads
Multiple key arms will make their respective starts for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates on Friday in what should be a fun night for baseball.
(9-8) Gwinnett Stripers, (12-6) Lehigh Valley
- GWN: AJ Smith-Shawver — 0-0, 0.00 ERA
- LV: Nabil Crismatt — 2-1, 3.60 ERA
After being sent down, AJ Smith-Shawver makes his first appearance of the year for Gwinnett on Friday. With Atlanta, Smith-Shaver was 0-2 with a 4.61 ERA in three starts this season. There’s a good chance the young righty only makes a handful of starts for Gwinnett before he rejoins the Braves in their rotation.
Offensively, while there aren’t too many guys who have experience against Lehigh Valley starter Nabil Crismatt, several Stripers will look to continue to build on their hot start to the season.
In his last five games, Luke Waddell is 7-20 with 5 RBI and a double to his credit, raising his average to .317 through 16 games. Also, Eddy Alvarez will look to extend his hitting streak to five games, as the infielder has posted an .889 OPS so far.
Cody Milligan — another Striper who has enjoyed some early season success thus far — was sent down to double-A Columbus on Friday while Carlos Rodriguez got the bump to Gwinnett. For Milligan, the 26-year-old is batting .300 with an .821 OPS to go along with three doubles and a triple to his credit with the Stripers.
As for Rodriguez, the 24-year-old hit .341 with the Clingstones in 10 games prior to his promotion.
One thing to keep an eye on is the status of Jose Devers who was removed from Thursday night’s game for undisclosed reasons. In 9 games, the former top prospect has posted a .964 OPS with a .367 average and a pair of homers.
(5-6) Columbus Clingstones, (9-3) Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- COL: TBD
- PEN: Adam Laskey — 0-0, 1.29 ERA
Columbus will look to get back into the win column after a one-run loss to Pensacola on Thursday.
While the starter for the Clingstones had not been posted by time of this publication, there are plenty of notes to keep in mind for this one. It’s unlikely he’ll make another appearance on Friday, but if he does, Craig Kimbrel will look to continue ramping up in order to join the Atlanta roster soon. On Thursday, Kimbrel struck out every batter he faced in 1.1 innings of work. His breaking ball looked incredibly sharp and he was able to pinpoint his 2-seam fastball tremendously.
The highlight of the season so far for Columbus has been David McCabe, who started his 2025 campaign on a seven game hitting streak. Despite cooling off over his past three games, the 25-year-old still has a team-best 1.059 OPS while batting .323. McCabe has only homered once so far on the year — with the lone shot coming in the season opener — so it would be nice to see him find some type of power stroke here in the next few games.
Cade Bunnell could be a sneaky pick to go off tonight, as in five at-bats against Pensacola starter Adam Lasky, Bunnell has a .400 average and an OPS of 1.100.
(5-7) Rome Emperors, (6-5) Asheville Tourists
- ROME: Didier Fuentes — 0-1, 7.88 ERA
- ASH: Juan Bello — 0-1, 12.00 ERA
To say it’s been a rough go of it to begin the season for Didier Fuentes would be a bit of an understatement. In two starts, the 19-year-old has given up seven earned runs in eight innings. The good news, perhaps, is that Fuentes has yet to yield a home run thus far and has also struck out nine batters in those eight frames. His last outing did got a bit better than his first start back on April 6 in which he lasted only two innings. So, hopefully he’ll continue to work through his early season woes as he gets the start on Friday night.
At the dish, Ambioris Tavarez and Patrick Clohisy will be two of the guys to watch in this one. For Tavarez, it appears through 11 games that his bat might be starting to come around. At one point this season, Tavarez carried a 1.053 OPS to lead Rome. While that number has come back down, he still looks more comfortable at the plate. Tavarez still needs to learn how to cut down on the strikeouts, as he has struckout 16 times in 42 at-bats.
A bit of a surprise so far this year has been Clohisy who carries a .275 average and an .800 OPS. He has six RBI and one homer to his credit. Clohisy has been held hitless in his precious six at-bats, so hopefully he can right the ship and get back on track.
(6-6) Augusta GreenJackets, (5-7) Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- AUG: Ethan Bagwell — 0-0, 2.25 ERA
- Evan Aschenbeck — 0-0, 0.00 ERA
In terms of the most intriguing game tonight among Atlanta’s farm teams, Augusta is most-likely the one to pay attention to.
Starter Ethan Bagwell makes his second start on the bump in 2025. While he may not be as highly regarded as some of the other pitching prospects in the system, 6-foot-4, 230-pound 19-year-old has shown a decent feel for the zone and the ability to get batters out. It’s only his third professional start, so it’ll be intriguing to see where Bagwell’s stock goes this season.
Isaiah Drake has begun to come back down to earth a bit, as his OPS has dropped to .765 on the season. Still, that’s an encouraging number as his bat has really been the only thing holding him back as a legitimate prospect. Drake went hitless against Myrtle Beach on Thursday so he will look to rebound.
Another bright spot for Augusta is catcher Nick Montgomery, who launched his first professional home run on Thursday night. He had previously gone his last 13 at-bats without a hit, so that homer could potentially get him going on the right track.