Who Will Be Atlanta Braves Sunday Starter

Atlanta Braves Sunday Starter Appears to be Mike Foltynewicz . . . err  Aaron Blair.

Friday night information came together indication that the Atlanta Braves might start Mike Foltynewicz  Sunday, now it looks like Aaron Blair gets the nod

Early Friday night Grant McCauley reported that Lucas Sims had been scratched from his start with Mississippi and Andrew Thurman was on the hill instead.

Sims was on his way to Gwinnett making fans wonder whose place he would take in the G-Braves rotation and McCauley said it could be one of two.

That was followed closely by more information from Bill Shanks.

So it appeared that Folty would get the call over Blair, the guy a lot of fans wanted. After the game however David O’Brien said that wasn’t the case.

A Baseball  and Business Decision

Foltynewicz started last season at Gwinnett and go the call to Atlanta in May and was up and down all season because he had trouble making his secondary pitches good enough to coax a swing from hitters. As a result they sat on his fastball and treated it badly.

After his thoracic outlet surgery Folty spent the winter rehabbing and was still in that process when spring training ended. The Brave sent him to Gwinnet to build up strength and get stretched out, while there Folty made three starts with an ERA of 3.60 and a 1.200 WHIP. He’s still striking out close to a man an inning – 13 men in 15 IP – but he’s also walked 10 in that stretch.

The fans vociferously wanted Blair who tore up AAA in 2015 as well posting a 3.16 ERA in 77 IP striking out 56 and walking 27 and has college ball experience. He also had a red-hot start to 2016 throwing 19 innings in three starts while allowing three runs (1.42 ERA) and strike out 22 while walking just 5.

In his last outing he was nearly perfect throwing seven innings of no hit ball and walked only one while striking out 10. He .  On paper and no doubt in practice he’s ready to make the jump but there are other considerations.

Next: Super Blair?