Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said Wednesday that Smith-Shawver is "on the cusp" of being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, Barrett Sallee of 680 The Fan Atlanta reports.
Smith-Shawver has been on the shelf for most of the season while recovering from June 2025 Tommy John surgery, but he was activated in late July and then sent to Gwinnett after making a lone 4.1-inning spot start for the big club. The right-hander has turned in a pair of strong starts since heading to Gwinnett, including a gem of an outing Tuesday in which he struck out seven over 5.1 scoreless frames while permitting just one baserunner. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Weiss made it clear Wednesday that he prefers to keep a five-man rotation intact, so once Smith-Shawver gets called up, Atlanta will likely look to move two of Reynaldo Lopez (knee), Tyler Mahle, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes and Martin Perez to the bullpen.