LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – He won’t pitch in his first Grapefruit League game until Thursday, but the Braves say they haven’t ruled out Mike Foltynewicz being ready for the regular-season rotation the first time they need a No. 5 starter.
Foltynewicz makes the next and most significant step in his rehab from a September blood-clot scare and surgery when the young right-hander starts a Braves split-squad game Thursday against the Nationals at Viera, Fla.
“Everything feels good,” said Foltynewicz, who looked sharp in two innings of simulated-game conditions Friday. “I’m not trying to look too big (picture) or thinking too much. I’m just trying to get into the game tomorrow, see how the arm feels in 20-30 pitches, see how it feels.
“But my arm feels good. Everything’s coming out easy. Feels loose.”
After surgery Sept. 21 to remove part of a rib and relieve the condition that led to blood clots in his arm, Foltynewicz wasn’t cleared to throw a baseball until Christmas, and then only light throwing for several weeks.
He had ramped it up quite a bit by the time spring training began, but was still at least a couple of weeks behind other pitchers in his throwing program and not sure if he’d more than one start during spring training. Instead he’ll get three Grapefruit League starts, barring any setbacks.
“I don’t think that’s going to be enough to fly back with the team (on the opening-day roster), but I can’t really think about that,” Foltynewicz said.
But instead of needing to spend most of April in extended spring training and/or on a minor-league rehab assignment, Foltynewicz might not need more than an extra week or two to get ready after the Braves break camp April 2, two days before their season opener.
“Once my arm’s ready, they’ll tell me,” he said. “But yeah, maybe a week or two to get more strength up, and get to five, six, seven innings out here, instead of two innings and say, OK, here you go. Everything feels good now, that’s all I care about, and we’ll go from there.”
He won’t have enough time to be on the opening-day roster, but there’s at least an outside chance that Foltynewicz could be ready April 12 when the Braves need a fifth starter for the first time, in the seventh game of the season.
“So that buys him and Manny (Banuelos) – they’re kind of in the same boat – buys him that extra week,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Shoot, it could buy (John) Gant an extra week. It could buy Williams Perez an extra week, somebody.”
Perez, prospect Gant and non-roster invitee Jhoulys Chacin are other possibilities the last two spots in the rotation, with Chacin considered perhaps the top candidate of the bunch. Foltynewicz and Banuelos would strictly be candidates for the fifth spot, since they’re coming back from September surgeries and came to camp behind other pitchers.
“No. 1, we’ve got to make sure he’s healthy,” Gonzalez said of Foltynewicz. “But not needing a fifth starter until the 12th, we can do it. It’ll be close, but we can do it. You’re looking at a little less than a month. But it’s doable, if everything goes well, there’s no setback. It’s going to be close. With him and Manny.”
Banuelos is coming back from elbow surgery to remove bone chips. He reported to camp a little behind other starters, but not as far back as Foltynewicz. Banuelos made his spring debut Saturday and gave up six hits and four runs in two innings.
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