After Mike Foltynewicz’s first & only start in 2020, he was designated for assignment (DFA) by the Atlanta Braves. What that means is he is no longer on the Braves 40-man roster, and players with more than three years of Major League service time or who have been previously outrighted may reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency. It is worth noting that Folty in fact, has more than three years of Major League service time.
Many, including myself, fully expected him to not make it through waivers. With this unorthodox season in which teams are losing pitching arms & the very real possibility of a pitcher to be sidelined due to COVID at some point in the season, it was almost a sure thing that a team could use an arm like Mike’s.
And the fact that no one claimed Mike off waivers speaks volumes to how he’s perceived around the league at this point in his career.
In his lone start this year he pitched 3.1 innings in which he surrendered six earned runs against Tampa Bay, earning an ERA of 16.20. He’s lost velocity & weight in relation to the Folty we all came to love on the mound. And maybe, those two factors go hand in hand. But, maybe they don’t. We only see what we’re shown during games & social media.
The Folty that we know will hopefully take this new assignment in stride and work toward rejoining the big league club & help the Braves make a deep postseason run. Folty not rejecting the assignment to Gwinnett in favor of free agency is a good sign for Foltynewicz’s fans.
Without a healthy Foltynewicz, Atlanta’s rotation is now officially a weakness until proven otherwise.
The Daily Braves 