A day after getting hit in the left calf by a line drive, Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz had his lower leg heavily wrapped and a pair of crutches at the ready in his locker Tuesday.
He has no idea when he’ll be ready to pitch again but hopes to get at least two more starts before the season ends.
“I can’t tell you (when),” he said. “It takes me five minutes to get from here to the training room. I can’t walk, let alone I don’t know what it’s going to be like landing on it when we even try that. We’ll see. Take it day by day.”
The Braves are also uncertain about another member of the starting rotation, Williams Perez, who left Sunday’s game with soreness in the bottom of the triceps near his pitching elbow. He was to be checked out again late Tuesday afternoon. There are 17 games left in the season beginning with Wednesday’s series finale againt the Marlins.
Foltynewicz was struggling mightily in a five-run fourth inning Monday against the Marlins when Marcell Ozuna hit a two-out screamer of a line drive that struck him squarely in calf muscle. As hard as the ball was hit, Foltynewicz and the Braves felt fortunate it hit directly on the muscle and not the shin bone or knee.
“That was probably the best-case scenario,” said Foltynewicz, adding that the calf was still swollen Tuesday, but didn’t balloon as team’s training staff worried that it might. “The swelling’s down some, but this (injured calf) is still about a half-inch bigger than the other one.”
Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said, “I think they were a little bit surprised that it wasn’t more swollen that it was. The swelling wasn’t nearly as bad as they thought. It’s obviously really bruised, and I don’t think he can take a normal step. It’s just probably going to be one of those things, literally, day to day.
“I’m sure he’ll get better every day. If he misses a start you hope it’s just one. Best thing would be he doesn’t miss a start, but I don’t know if that’s possible.”
Snitker said he didn’t know who would replace Foltynewicz if he misses a start. Options at Tripe-A Gwinnett are lined up to pitch in playoff games this week, and until the Braves see how Foltynewicz is in a couple of days they wouldn’t want to pull one of those Triple-A starters out of Gwinnett’s playoff pitching plans.
