Monday marked Josie Canseco and AJ Smith-Shawver’s one-year dating anniversary, and Canseco marked it with 20 Instagram photos that reached her 1.1 million followers. The 29-year-old posted a string of intimate images and wrote, "A year with you," adding, "How’d I get so lucky."
The album — 20 total snaps — was heavy on vacation shots and swimsuits. In almost every photo the 23-year-old Smith-Shawver could be seen kissing and embracing Canseco, a steady presence in the frame rather than a background figure. His mother, Laurie, left two brief public notes on the post: "Happy Anniversary!" and "Love y’all so much."
The pair first went public with their relationship last summer, and the anniversary post continued an open social-media record of the relationship. In February, Smith-Shawver took Canseco as his date to the Braves’ 2026 Gala, another moment the couple shared with followers.
There is another running line beneath the photos: Smith-Shawver has been on the shelf since May 2025 with a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said over the weekend that the 23-year-old "is coming along well in his rehab," a progress note that sits beside images of beach days and close embraces.
The contrast is the story’s friction. On one hand, the Instagram album reads like a private anniversary—sun, swimsuits, and a couple that spends little time hiding affection. On the other, Smith-Shawver’s injury has kept him from pitching since May 2025, and there remains the practical question of when he will return to the mound. The photos offer no timetable, only a public record of a relationship framed against an ongoing recovery.
For viewers, the numbers underline the reach: 1.1 million followers saw 20 candid moments where the couple appears relaxed and visibly affectionate. The captions were spare. The images did the rest — kisses, arms around shoulders, shared sunsets — and drew Laurie’s celebratory reaction from Smith-Shawver’s family.
The relationship’s arc has been visible: public last summer, a gala appearance in February, then the long shadow of a May 2025 injury. Weiss’s brief assessment that his young pitcher "is coming along well in his rehab" is the only recent official update on Smith-Shawver’s condition; the Instagram post is the only public, personal update on the couple’s life together.
For now, the anniversary album is the marker of year one. Canseco’s caption did the work of a conclusion: "A year with you." The photos and the family reactions on display make clear what the post set out to say — their relationship is both public and close, even as Smith-Shawver continues to work his way back to baseball.
