LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Mike Foltynewicz knew that he needed to pitch a lot better Wednesday night in his third start to remain a viable candidate for the Braves' opening-day rotation. And he did.
The rookie allowed three hits, one run and one walk with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings against the Yankees, after failing to make it out of the second inning of his first start or the first inning of his second start.
“You can’t use the ‘it’s early’ anymore, it’s getting down to where decisions are starting to get made and you’ve really got to start opening some eyes,” said Foltynewicz, who had been charged with seven hits, six runs (two earned) and four walks in 2 1/3 innings over his first two starts against the Mets and Tigers.
“That was his third outing and it was really, really good,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Thursday’s outing. “Sometimes it takes a little while to get comfortable. But his pitches…it was electric. It really was. Fastball command, breaking ball was knee-buckling. He was good. I can’t wait to run him back out there again.”
Braves relievers James Russell and Arodys Vizcaino struggled mightily against the Yankees, allowing nine runs in the fourth through sixth innings of a 12-5 loss.
Foltynewicz, a hard-throwing former Astros prospect, came to spring training among four candidates for the fifth-starter job, with prospect Manny Banuelos and veteran lefty non-roster invitees Wandy Rodriguez and Eric Stults. When No. 4 starter Mike Minor was shut down with shoulder inflammation, it created a second opening.
Chien-Ming Wang and Cody Martin were candidates added to the race after the additional spot opened.
The Braves would like to see Foltynewicz pitch well enough to earn a spot. So far, Stults and Rodriguez have pitched better and both veterans can opt out of their contracts before opening day if they’re not on the major league roster.
Foltynewicz gave up four hits, one run and two walks while recording five outs in his March 7 debut, then three hits, five runs (one earned) and two walks in two-thirds of an inning Friday against the Tigers.
“He was a different guy (Wednesday),” Gonzalez said. “He comes in from a different organization, new camp, he’s reading all the stuff about being in the mix for a starter’s job … You have a tendency to get a little wrapped up. Today he looked and produced like a guy who was a little more comfortable.”
Since his last start, Foltynewicz spent a lot of time talking with pitching coach Roger McDowell and veteran reliever Jason Grilli about slowing things down.
“I thought I was a lot more relaxed out there (Wednesday),” he said. “Just went out and threw strikes. All my pitches were working for me. I was throwing my fastball and all my off-speed (pitches) for strikes. They just got some unfortunate hits there, but that’s something you can’t control. In the past I might normally get frustrated with that, but I can’t control it, just got to go out and pitch.”
“I’ve been working at it this whole past week. I was talking to McDowell, we just made a little mechanical adjustment of slowing things down during the windup. I’ve been talking to Grilli a lot, he’s been telling me to just calm down and relax, be yourself, don’t go out there and try to be something you’re not. And I think I did a really good job at that.”
Russell rocked: It was not a bad night for Braves lefty James Russell who, gave up six hits and six runs in 1 2/3 innings in his second spring appearance, including a pair of two-run homers by left-handed hitters — Stephen Drew in the fourth inning and former Braves catcher Brian McCann in the fifth. The Yankees rolled to a 12-5 win.
Four of six hits off Russell were by lefty batters. That mirrored the “reverse split” he pitched to last season, when left-handers batted .284 with an .805 OPS in 100 plate appearances against Russell, while right-handers hit .165 with a .421 OPS in 138 PAs against him.
KJ's big fly: The Braves mustered just two hits in 3 2/3 innings against Masahiro Tanaka and trailed 7-0 until the fifth inning, when utility candidate Kelly Johnson launched a three-run homer against righty Jose Ramirez.
Johnson is only 4-for-24 (.167), but his homer Wednesday came after he doubled against the Red Sox on Tuesday. He also has a triple.
“He’s getting some good at-bats,” Gonzalez said of the veteran non-roster invitee. “Good for him. I’m going to play him in the outfield tomorrow, got him scheduled to play right field. We talk about him all the time, put him in different spots and he can be a guy that can help you out from the bench, help you out in different positions over the course of the year. That’s a good option to have.”
