Folty Towers
If you didn’t catch that John Cleese reference… sorry. It was too silly anyway. But the Braves did pick up a towering pitcher yesterday in Michael Foltynewicz , which is pronounced Fol-teh-‘NAY-vich.
Folty (@Folty25 on twitter) – who stands 6’4″ as looks to be a towering presence on the mound. It’s time we found out what made the Braves willing to move Evan Gattis for him and Rio Ruiz yesterday.
Background
Folty is 23 years old and hails from Minooka, Illinois. Seems that he has wanted to play baseball for quite a while, as Wikipedia reports that both of his parents messed up elbow while throwing batting practice to him during a summer. Let’s hope that isn’t a hereditary thing.
Mike was selected out of high school in the first round of the 2010 draft by the Astros as the 19th overall pick that year, getting a $1.3 million bonus. His major league debut came on August 2, 2014 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
I’m unable to link these mlb.com videos, but if you check this page, you should be impressed with the “four strikeouts” video as he mowed down four Cleveland Indians on September 17th of last year… with pitches including 98 mph heaters on the lower inside corner… seemingly without excess effort. This video is more specific – and more glowing – about Folty and his chances to be the “real deal” as a starting pitcher.
He throws a big fastball – 96-99 mph – that has movement. Add to that a ‘plus’ curve (slurve, 78 mph) and sinking changeup (~83 mph) and you end up with a lot of lunging batters or batters than are left guessing too late.
Folty was listed as the 63rd 44th best draft prospect by baseballamerica.com prior to the 2010 draft, but was shooting up draft boards as word came that he was adding multiple mph to his fastball. This suggests to me that he may not have been one of those all-pitching-all-the-time guys that we worry so much about for overuse injuries. Instead, he profiles more like an “athelete” first – even being the best hitter on that high school club. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
BA.com also placed him among their 65 “Grade A” right-handed pitchers in 2014 – 24th on that list alongside Lucas Sims of the Braves (23rd). Since then, even, I think it’s fair to suggest his stock has increased… leading to his major league debut in August.
PUSHED THE ‘PRAM’ A LOT?
The Astros worked Folty fairly strong after that draft:
- 44 innings in 2010
- 134 innings in 2011
- 152 in 2012
- 129 in 2013 moving up to AA
- 121 in 2014 split between AAA and the majors.
Silly Walks
Mike Foltynewicz (48) smiles in the dugout before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The only knocks I’ve found about Folty are these:
- Control
- The need to improve on secondary pitches.
He is striking batters at a solid pace (~1 per inning). The walks occur at roughly half that rate, which is a bit, though not unacceptable, but likely means that he has good days and bad ones. When hitters do make contact, they are often getting hits (BABIP around .330 between AAA and the majors). Improvement with those secondary pitches might keep them off the fastball better, and result in more guesswork.
But these are nits, and it appears that the Braves could certainly give him a long look this Spring. He is on the 40-man roster, so that shouldn’t hurt his candidacy, either.
I like what I see – if he can stick as a starter, then I believe Atlanta has a ‘keeper’.