The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With elbow issue, Foltynewicz won't be ready by opening day
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz was officially ruled out for what would’ve been his first opening-day start. The All-Star right-hander has been limited to one outing due to elbow discomfort this spring training.
Foltynewicz is coming off the best year of his career, in which he went 13-10 with a 2.85 ERA and 202 strikeouts. He took the mantle as the Braves’ ace, starting two postseason games, and would’ve gotten the nod for opening day later this month in Philadelphia. The Braves don’t expect Foltynewicz to miss significant time, but they’re still sorting out his throwing schedule. He could return in the second week of the season and the delay could cost him, at most, a few starts.
“He’s not going to be ready,” general manager Alex Antho- poulos said. “We’re mapping out his throwing program (Monday), in terms of bullpens, live BPs, all those things. We’re just trying to figure out at what point we get him up to five innings. So he’s getting close to throwing off a mound here. He feels great.
“The injury was about two weeks ago. So he’s not that far removed from throwing but we want to be careful how we build him up. If he’s going to come back as a reliever (hypothetically), he could be ready to go for the first series. Right now, the way it’s trending, it’s going to take a little bit of time in the season to get him stretched out to start.”
Early off-days play in the Braves’ favor. It allows them to use a four-man rotation in the early going, and they like their starter depth enough not to feel urgency to rush Foltynewicz back. Sean Newcomb, Julio Teheran and Kevin Gausman are locked into the rotation, with a parade of pros- pects behind them.
“Once we start getting (Fol- tynewicz) in games, getting stretched out, then we’ll have a better sense of when he can make a start for us,” Antho- poulos said.
Wright impresses: Kyle Wright is pitching his way into the Braves rotation. Wright, whom the Braves drafted fifth overall in 2017, continued his brilliant spring Monday. He pitched three scoreless innings against the Pirates before things got away from him in the fourth, resulting in two runs. They were the first runs Wright had given up in his three appearances.
The Braves defeated the Pirates 6-2 in the Grapefruit League game.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Wright said. “Four- seamer was good. Curveball was good. Cutter was good. The only pitch that really wasn’t there was the twoseam. I was just trying to get back in the zone. I probably should’ve thrown a few more four-seams, but other than that everything felt pretty good.”
The Braves entered spring training with one rotation spot available behind Mike Foltyne- wicz, Sean Newcomb, Kevin Gausman and Julio Teheran. They needed at least one of their prospects to blow them away and take the spot; Wright is on his way to doing so. He has allowed two runs while striking out 11 (including five Ks on Monday) in his three outings (eight innings). He’s coming off his first taste of the bigs — a brief stint last Sep- tember as a reliever — and is positioning himself to make his first major league start in the season’s early days.
“The stuff has been sharp, it’s been crispy,” said bench coach Walt Weiss, who’s filling in for manager Brian Snitker while he attends to a personal matter. “A couple very impressive outings.”
Offense puts potential on display: If Monday was a sign of what’s to come, the Braves must be feeling pretty good about their offense.
They fielded their regular lineup against the Pirates. Leadoff man Ender Inciarte opened the game with a double before stealing third. He scored on Josh Donaldson’s single up the middle, his first hit and RBI of the spring.
Ronald Acuna capped the first with a two-run homer that ricocheted off the scoreboard in left-center. It was Acuna’s second home run.” He’s starting to zone in,” Weiss said.
The Braves’ second inning was thwarted by a triple play, but they tacked on another pair of runs in the third. Inciarte, Acuna and Freddie Freeman had two-hit days.