Should Atlanta Braves Exile Mike Foltynewicz to the Bullpen?

Power starters are rare

They aren’t as rare as they once were but every team wants as many big arms with multiple pitches in their rotation as possible.  Matt Wisler showed us that you don’t need a big heater to get batters out but having one to call on certainly comes in handy and Folty’s heater is a good one – actually two.

The aforementioned Texas Leaguers site shows shows both his four seam fastball (94.8) and his two seam fastball (94.4) sit close to mid of the nineties. To average that speed you’re delivering a few well above that number and we’ve seen Mike deliver 97MPH gas in the seventh and eight innings.  There are 34 qualified late inning relievers whose fastball lives in that neighborhood but not many starters.

According to Fangraphs of 103 qualified starting pitchers this year, 20 have average four seam speeds over 93.5 and 16 throw their two seamer in that area.  Foltynewicz’ velocity and arsenal of pitches put him among the hardest throwing starters in the game what he lack is consistency in finding the edges of the strike zone.

When the Braves traded for Folty I wrote that Houston had told him to ignore his two seam fastball because they felt a pitcher who can throw a steady  97 doesn’t need a sinker. That’s Folty logic. (Sorry but I had to say it before one of you did.)  They also stopped him from using his slider rather than correct his mechanics to keep his elbow from flying out and making it hurt. They used him as a reliever but he wasn’t successful even though he threw hard because he was wild.

Next: Who Belongs In The Bullpen?