Things change quickly, and confidence can be a fragile thing, particularly at the highest levels of sport.
About a year ago, almost to the day, Atlanta Braves hurler Mike Foltynewicz received news that probably ranked among the best he’s received in his life: he was set to be a major league All-Star.
A fastball that could touch 100 mph and a crackling slider were the pitcher’s bread and butter. Few that came to the plate got to eat. He struck out 202 batters and pitched to a 2.85 earned run average, winning 13 games.
Late last Saturday night, he received the news from manager Brian Snitker that he was headed back to AAA Gwinnett. He deserved a demotion.
The numbers were, in a word: ugly. A 6.37 earned run average over 11 starts in the majors, including eight runs that fateful Saturday night to the Washington Nationals. A game that his team, almost inexplicably, still won.
Where did things go wrong for Mike Foltynewicz? Where does he go from here?
The Centerpiece
The Atlanta Braves acquired the prized pitcher when they dealt a fan favorite, Evan Gattis to the Houston Astros. They also received infielder Rio Ruiz in the deal, who is now with the Baltimore Orioles, and Andrew Thurman, who reached Mississippi and was released.
Up to that point, Mike had been used in relief at the major league level for several games with the Astros in 2014, sporting a relatively unimpressive 5.30 ERA over 18.2 innings.
A major plus and minus to Foltynewicz has been his fiery and emotional presence on the mound. When things go downhill, Foltynewicz appears to let results get in his head, showing this through frustrated body language. This would often allow the train to derail, or create a snowball effect.
In Foltynewicz’s showings in 2015 and 2016 with Atlanta, he had his impressive moments. The velocity was there, the slider was there, and most of all, the front-line starting potential was there.