The Braves are tinkering with their pitching staff again, and this time it's not about who's hurt — it's about keeping their ace from getting there. Atlanta has temporarily expanded from a five-man to a six-man rotation, a move that reshuffles probable pitchers for the next couple weeks and, by extension, every fantasy and betting plan built around this staff.
The trigger was AJ Smith-Shawver's recall from Triple-A Gwinnett, where the right-hander had been rebuilding himself roughly 14 months removed from Tommy John surgery. He briefly popped up for a spot start in late July before heading back down to keep stretching out, and now he's back in the mix as a full rotation piece alongside Chris Sale, Bryce Elder, Martin Perez, Tyler Mahle and Grant Holmes.
The real reason for the move is Sale. The 9-time All-Star turns 37 next spring, he's coming off a rib cage fracture that cost him 10 weeks this year, and he's appeared in 20 games or fewer in 5 of his last 6 seasons. Adding a 6th starter lets Atlanta space out his turns — the plan reportedly has him opening a series in Milwaukee and then circling back to close out a following series against the Dodgers, instead of running through the grinder on a normal 5-man clock.
It's not a free lunch. Manager Walt Weiss has been upfront that stretching the rotation out means squeezing the bullpen, since the extra starter has to come from somewhere on the 26-man roster. To make room for Smith-Shawver, Atlanta designated reliever Tyler Kinley for assignment — a short-term trade-off the club is willing to make to protect its most important arm.
This isn't meant to be permanent. Once the Braves feel comfortable going back to 5, Holmes is the likely candidate to slide to the bullpen, assuming Smith-Shawver has shown enough to stick as a starter. For now, though, anyone tracking Atlanta's rotation for start dates, matchups or lineup planning needs to toss out the usual 5-day rhythm and pay attention to who's actually up next.