Atlanta Braves Series Preview: Finishing off the Cardinals
Game 1 – Mike Foltynewicz vs Miles Mikolas
This will be a redemption game — hopefully — for Folty as the Cardinals ambushed him for 8 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks over 4.2 innings last week.
He looked much better his last time out holding a dangerous Milwaukee lineup to just 2 runs (both solo home runs) on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts over 6 innings — his first quality start of the 2019 season.
On Thursday we wrote an article that dove into the metrics of what’s different between the 2018 version of Folty and the 2019 version. It basically boils down to his slider, which even Folty has admitted is not as sharp as it was last year.
Related Story. What's plaguing Folty? Can it be fixed?. light
Looking at some of the matchups, Marcell Ozuna is 5-for-22 off Folty with a couple of home runs. We saw in Atlanta that he is just looking to lift and separate.
The left-handed hitting Kolten Wong is 5-for-9 against him with a home run and 3 walks.
Folty has really good numbers against Paul Goldschmidt holding him to just 3 hits in 18 at-bats with 9 strikeouts.
Miles Mikolas will take the mound for St. Louis. He entered the season as the team’s ace but as struggled out of the gate with a 4.88 ERA despite a very good WHIP of 1.19.
The Braves did not face him last week, but they did face him twice last year and did have much success.
Freddie Freeman is 2-for-7 off him with a home run, while Ronald Acuna Jr., Johan Camargo, and Dansby Swanson also have a pair of hits against him in limited at-bats.