Atlanta Braves: 3 Takeaways from Sunday’s extra-inning loss to the Brewers

3. Mike Foltynewicz’s Quality Start

The first few starts for the Atlanta Braves right-hander were not encouraging at all. However, coming into Sunday’s start, Folty had mentioned how encouraged he was by his side session last week and the adjustments he had made.

Those adjustments were very apparent and it worked in his favor. Mike had a much better presence on the mound and his velocity was back to where we expect it to be.

This was definitely his best effort of the season.  Just would have liked to see it go for at least 1 more inning on Sunday.

Folty’s fastball stayed consistently in the 95-97mph range and that should relieve some anxiety for Braves fans for now.

Mike changed speeds very well and mixed his pitches effectively. The slider had much more bite to it and the fastball was moving and not just sitting in the middle of the plate.

The Atlanta Braves starter earned a quality start as he went 6 innings allowing just 2 earned runs on 3 hits while striking out 3 batters.  Both of the runs… heck, every run allowed in the entire game… came via home runs.

The most important thing is that Folty didn’t walk a single batter and stayed out of a lot of deep counts. This was a step in the right direction and I was happy to see it.

Let’s hope Mike can carry this success into his next start and be the ace we expect him to be from this point forward.