Jewish Prospect Starts Season in Braves’ Rotation

It was only a matter of time.

Jared Shuster, the soft-spoken 24-year-old, left-handed starting pitcher whom the Atlanta Braves selected out of Wake Forest University in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, was destined to join the big-league club eventually. It turns out that time is now as Shuster was added to the Braves’ Opening Day roster during the final days of spring training before making his major league debut against the Washington Nationals a week later on April 2.

After an up-and-down 2021 minor league season, his first for the Braves organization, Shuster flashed signs of brilliance last season for the Mississippi Braves, the club’s Double-A affiliate, particularly when he punched out eight in a row in an early-season start against the Biloxi Shuckers. By July, he was pitching for Gwinnett, finishing with a respectable 4.25 ERA over 10 appearances at the Triple-A level. And going into 2023, the off-season departure of back-of-the rotation starter Jake Odorizzi to the Texas Rangers opened the door for Shuster to assume the fifth-starter vacancy.

Before spring training, however, the odds were stacked against Shuster cracking the big-league roster when camp broke. He had to compete against three-year veteran Ian Anderson, former All-Star Michael Soroka, who hadn’t pitched since 2020 after suffering a twice-torn Achilles, and Bryce Elder, who compiled some impressive starts last year as a rookie. As spring training progressed, Anderson and Elder struggled mightily with their command and were soon optioned to Triple-A while Soroka strained a hamstring a day before the official start of camp and didn’t make his spring debut until late March. It was also in late March that Kyle Wright, coming off a spectacular 21-5 campaign in 2022, was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

But ultimately, none of those developments may have prevented manager Brian Snitker from keeping Shuster onboard to start the season. Looking every bit like a former first-round draft pick, the young lefty breezed through spring training with a 1.45 ERA while holding opponents to a microscopic .115 batting average against, establishing himself as a viable candidate to be slotted into the back end of the Braves’ rotation, one that is, of course, anchored by another Jewish lefty, Max Fried.

Which is exactly what happened on the morning of Sunday, March 26, when Shuster, along with fellow highly-regarded prospect Dylan Dodd, was called into Snitker’s office and told the good news—and to make sure he had a sport coat handy to conform to big-league travel dress codes.

“I called my dad first and saw my family, let them know,” Shuster told the media after the meeting with Snitker. “Then, my phone started blowing up a little bit. It’s really cool. A lot of people are proud of me and happy for me.”

Shuster’s emergence as a potential mainstay of the Braves’ rotation marks the beginning of what may be an historic season for Jewish baseball. Other highly touted Jewish prospects including Matt Mervis (Chicago Cubs), Zack Gelof (Oakland A’s), and Spencer Horwitz (Toronto Blue Jays) will likely get called up at some point this summer and join the dozen or so current big leaguers who identify as being Jewish.

Count Shuster as feeling proud to be part of the select group.

“I love being Jewish,” Shuster told the Atlanta Jewish Times last season. “I love being able to represent the Jewish community, so it’s something I’m definitely proud of. It’s been great for me for 24 years. It’s helped my family stay close.”

I love being Jewish. I love being able to represent the Jewish community, so it’s something I’m definitely proud of. It’s been great for me for 24 years. It’s helped my family stay close.

In October 2020, Shuster’s family was rocked by tragedy when his mother, Lori, passed away at the age of 61, leaving behind her husband, Bennett, and two children, Jared and Alexa. At that point forward, Shuster dedicated his baseball career to the memory of his late mother and Lori was certainly in his thoughts when he made his big-league debut on April 2 at Nationals Park.

Starting the Braves’ third game of the season against their rebuilding NL East opponent—within driving distance of his hometown of New Bedford, Mass., and alma mater, Wake Forest—Shuster yielded four runs on six hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings. After allowing four first-inning runs, as each of the first six hitters he faced reached via a hit or a walk, he settled down to retire 12 of his final 17 batters.

There was no denying that facing a big-league lineup, in front of 21,440 fans no less, is a far cry from pitching against lineups in minor league or spring training games.

“I told him when he came out, ‘You can breathe now,’” Snitker said after the Braves fell 4-1 for their first loss of the season. “It was good to see how he came in and competed. I’m sure it wasn’t how he had it drawn up when he made his debut, but to his credit, he got us into the fifth, which was really big in the scheme of things.”

Following his debut, Shuster noted it was, “Definitely a positive way to go out and show I can move on to the next pitch and leave whatever happens behind me. I was excited to get out there. That first inning, I wanted it to go a little better. But after that, I kind of settled in and got a couple zeroes. I felt good with how I finished.”

With early-season injuries to Wright and Fried, it appears that Shuster will be given more opportunities to stay up at the big-league level this spring. If so, the Braves would continue to have three Jewish players on their roster with the young lefty alongside Fried and outfielder Kevin Pillar.

Shuster was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett following his second big league start last Friday.