Braves Rumors

The Braves announced Thursday that right-hander Mike Foltynewicz was sent outright to the team’s alternate training site after going unclaimed on waivers. He’ll continue to work out there in hopes of returning to form.

While some might be surprised to see a pitcher with Foltynewicz’s track record clear waivers, it’s notable that he’s earning $6.425MM in 2020 — about $2.38MM after factoring for prorated salaries. Any team that claimed him would’ve been on the hook for the entirety of that sum. At a time when some clubs still haven’t even committed to paying their minor leaguers a $400 weekly stipend through August, that additional $2.38MM in salary is surely viewed as a more sizable commitment by many owners than one would think upon first glance.

Had Foltynewicz simply gotten out to a rough start to the year, perhaps a club would’ve been willing to gamble on him. However, the right-hander also came out averaging just over 90 mph on a fastball that as recently as 2018 averaged 96.4 mph. That’s a glaring red flag — one that likely contributed to all 29 other clubs shying away from the 2018 All-Star. Manager Brian Snitker said after the game that the team wasn’t sure what prompted the velocity dip, though he acknowledged what was obvious to anyone who saw the right-hander pitch that night — Foltynewicz looks noticeably thinner than at any point in his career.

Whatever the reasons for Foltynewicz’s drop in velocity, the immediate results were ugly, to say the least. In his lone start this season, the right-hander was tagged for six runs on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts in just 3 1/3 frames. Three of the four hits he surrendered were long balls.

Even the 2019 season was a rough one for Foltnewicz, who missed time with a bone spur and at one point was even optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. The righty looked to have found himself late in the season, as he closed out the year with a 1.73 ERA and a 36-to-10 K/BB ratio in his final seven starts — a span of 41 2/3 innings. That he managed to salvage his season in that capacity is likely what led the Braves to tender a contract to Foltynewicz, who had carried a 6.37 ERA into late June before being optioned.

It’s clear to anyone who’s followed the game in recent years that Foltynewicz is a highly talented arm with a notable ceiling. He rattled off 183 innings of 2.85 ERA ball in 2018, averaging 9.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 and hurling a pair of shutouts along the way. That terrific season landed him eighth in NL Cy Young Award voting. That looked to be the breakout moment for Foltynewicz, but the former first-round pick and top prospect has yet to replicate that year’s production.

The timing of Foltynewicz’s DFA likely wasn’t a coincidence. The right-hander entered the season with four years, 134 days of MLB service time, meaning he needed just 38 days of service to reach five total years. Prorated to match the shortened 2020 season, Foltynewicz needed only 14 days on the MLB roster to reach five years of service. And once a player reaches five years of big league service time, he’s able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency without forfeiting the remainder of his salary. Had the Braves given Foltynewicz even two more starts, he could’ve taken free agency after an outright assignment and gone to another club. Now, the organization will at least have the chance to see if he can right the ship and contribute later in the season.

The Braves have decided to designate righty Mike Foltynewicz for assignment, manager Brian Snitker told reporters including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). He’ll be replaced by reliever Chad Sobotka on the active roster.

This certainly rates as an early-season stunner. The 28-year-old Foltynewicz has had his ups and downs in Atlanta, to be sure. He was an All-Star just two seasons ago before experiencing enough difficulty last year that the Braves demoted him to the minors in late June. However, Foltynewicz rebounded when the Braves recalled him in early August, and they’re now committed to paying him a pro-rated portion of his $6,425,000 salary this season — unless another team makes a claim — and will be giving up another season of arbitration control.

Foltynewicz certainly didn’t look himself in his season debut today, coughing up six earned runs and three long balls while lasting just 3 1/3 innings in a blowout loss to the Rays. More importantly, he demonstrated a collapse in velocity that has been a concern during the pre-season ramp up.

“His stuff hasn’t been there,” Snitker told David O’Brien of The Athletic and other reporters in regards to Foltynewicz, who has averaged better than 95 mph on his fastball since he debuted with the Astros in 2014 but is now struggling to hit 90.

It seems as if the Braves have simply seen enough to determine that Folty won’t find another gear in 2020. No doubt the club will now count upon another team to take over the salary obligations — if not also to kick in something of value in return. Despite his current issues, Foltynewicz’s age and track record of production suggest any number of teams could take a chance on him. To this point, he has thrown 682 2/3 innings of matching 4.27 ERA/FIP ball with 8.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 at baseball’s highest level.

Atlanta, meanwhile, continues to deal with unexpected changes in its rotation. Perhaps in an ideal situation, Foltynewicz would have made up one-fifth of the back-to-back NL East champions’ starting staff alongside Mike Soroka, Max Fried, Cole Hamels and Felix Hernandez. Now, though, the only ones standing are Soroka and Fried – before the Foltynewicz DFA, Hamels went on the 45-day injured list because of a triceps issue and Hernandez opted out of the campaign as a result of coronavirus concerns.

Without Folty, Hamels and Hernandez, the Braves are down to Sean Newcomb and Kyle Wright as complements to Soroka and Fried. And while the likes of Jhoulys Chacin and Josh Tomlin carry plenty of experience as starters, Snitker said the Braves could use an opener instead of a traditional rotation option for the time being.