Shortly after a rough outing against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves.
Snitker announced Folty will be designated for assignment. Chad Sobotka will join the team tomorrow.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 28, 2020
#Braves' Foltynewicz was designated for assignment, will either be traded or outrighted to Gwinnett to the satellite camp with others not on the 30-man roster.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 28, 2020
Foltynewicz gave up six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, with three home runs and four walks playing a huge part in that.
Welcome to Tampa, Hunter Renfroe!
He knew it was gone as the @RaysBaseball take the lead in the 4th!
Catch the Rays game on FOX Sports Sun & FOX Sports Go: https://t.co/0LCYa9fOsE #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/k6Gxfueqt8
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) July 27, 2020
And the more concerning thing came with his velocity, with his fastball averaging only 89 mph and topping out at 92. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.9 mph, compared to 94.8 mph in 2019 and 96.3 in 2018.
Folty's fastball averaged 89.3 mph over (3.1 IP) tonight and topped out at 92.3 mph. https://t.co/ZkDX9hkgcy
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 27, 2020
Mike Foltynewicz averaged 96.3 MPH on his four seamer in 2018… 94.8 MPH last season and in his start today 90.9 MPH pic.twitter.com/W6tGs1Xlxq
— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 28, 2020
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker explained that the organization hasn’t seen “enough increase in the velocity” and “the stuff hasn’t been there” for Foltynewicz. Snitker added that he’s not sure if the velocity drop is health related.
Snitker on Folty: "After the last couple outings in (Summer Camp), we wanted to give it a go here and it was the same. We didn’t see enough increase in the velocity. That’s who he’s been. He’s been a stuff guy for the entire time we’ve had him. The stuff hasn’t been there."
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 28, 2020
Snitker on the drop in velo for Folty: "I really don't know. Especially if it isn't health. I really have no good answer." #Braves
— Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull) July 28, 2020
But it’s still surprising to see the Braves give up on Foltynewicz so quickly.
As the data above shows, Foltynewicz had excellent velocity for a starting pitcher not long ago. He was selected to the All-Star Game in 2018, a season in which he had a 2.85 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and was worth 4.0 WAR (according to Baseball Reference) in 183 innings pitched.
In 2019, he had first-half struggles and made 10 starts in Triple-A, but returned to the majors to put together a 2.65 ERA in 57 2/3 second-half innings. He even pitched in two games for the Braves in the 2019 NLDS.
There are surely many teams that would be glad to take a chance on Foltynewicz, bring him into their program, and see if they can get unlock his previous stuff. It will be interesting to see where he lands.
Update: Mike Foltynewicz cleared waivers, and was sent outright to the Braves’ alternate training site on Thursday.
The #Braves today outrighted RHP Mike Foltynewicz to the club’s alternate training site.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 30, 2020
It’s a bit surprising that no team wanted to claim Foltynewicz, who was owed roughly $2.3 million in prorated salary for the rest of the 2020 season. But, it says a lot about how concerned teams must be about his velocity.
It probably does not bode well for Foltynewicz that nobody wanted to even risk the $2 million or so he's owed this season to see if he's fixable.
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) July 30, 2020
