Three takeaway as Atlanta Braves endure a bad series loss in Pittsburgh
By James Kunkle
2. We need the 2018 Mike Foltynewicz back
So far, 2019 has not been kind to the 2018 ace of the Braves staff. He has had some rocky outings with one or two good ones thrown in.
Entering Thursday, he was coming off a bad start against the Tigers last Friday.
Thursday’s start started off promising with the first 1-2-3 first inning an Atlanta Braves starter has thrown in 10 games, but it soon turned rough in the second inning.
His fastball velocity was back where it was in 2018 at around 97, but his location was terrible.
He hung a slider over the middle of the plate that Gregory Polanco mashed into the right field seats.
Mike Foltynewicz was able to recover and give the team 6 innings today, and other than that 2nd inning, he was fairly dependable.
Still, some issues need to be resolved and figured out so the Atlanta Braves have the leader of the pitching staff back.
It’s even more imperative he figures it out since Kevin Gausman and Max Fried are both struggling at the moment as well. Let’s hope these last four innings today were a start for that.
Either way, the Atlanta Braves need to start looking for potential options outside of the organization. Whether that’s Dallas Keuchel or someone in a trade, we need another dependable starter.
Right now, Mike Soroka — and maybe Julio Teheran — are the only starters we can trust.