Smith-Shawver played football and baseball at Colleyville Heritage High School, where he was up in Colleyville, Texas.[1] In his senior year, he passed for 2,616 yards and 25 touchdowns as the starting quarterback for Colleyville Heritage. He gave up pitching to concentrate on football,[2] and after hitting.344 with 20 RBIs as a third baseman, the Dallas Morning News selected him All-Area.[3] Smith-Shawver committed to Texas Tech University to play football and baseball in college.
Smith-Shawver was chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft in 2021.[5] He signed a contract with the organisation and was given a $997,500 over-slot signing bonus.[6][7] Smith-Shawver made four appearances for the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Braves after signing. The Augusta GreenJackets of Single-A played him during the 2022 season.[8][9] Pitching for the GreenJackets and in the FCL, Smith-Shawver concentrated on honing his slider.
Smith-Shawver started the season with the Rome Braves the next year.[11][12] He pitched three starts at the High-A level, giving up six hits in fourteen scoreless innings while striking out twenty-three and walking four.[13] Smith-Shawver was traded to the Mississippi Braves on May 2.[14] In two Double-A outings, he gave up five hits in seven scoreless innings. [15] On May 19, he made his Triple-A debut with the Gwinnett Stripers, giving up his first earned runs of the 2023 season.
Smith-Shawver’s contract was selected by the Atlanta Braves on May 30, 2023, marking his first promotion to the major leagues.[18][19] On June 4, he made his major league debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks, tossing 2+1⁄3 innings of relief with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk.[20][21] On June 9, [22], Smith-Shawver started his debut game and gave up two unearned runs on three hits in 5+1⁄3 innings against the Washington Nationals.[2][23] In 5+2⁄3 innings against the Colorado Rockies on June 15, Smith-Shawver recorded his first victory by allowing six hits and one walk while striking out six batters.[24] On August 24, 1990, he became the youngest pitcher for the Braves to win a game since Steve Avery.
