Foltynewicz showing signs of turning the corner

Let’s repeat this over and over and over, as we watch the daily drama that is the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves are rebuilding. The Braves are rebuilding. The Braves are rebuilding.

It’s the third year of this grand plan, and this is the most difficult season to watch. The ups and downs are frustrating, as we will see weeks with this team trying to get to .500 look great, and then the next week we wonder if it will ever win another game.

This is so much different than a great team or a horrible team. You know when a team is great or when it’s bad, but a team stuck in the middle will fool you more than once to make you wonder what kind of team we are really watching.

No player is perhaps representative of the ups and downs than starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz, who is like a young bear cub trying to make his way in the woods. He’s trying to find the consistency that every pitcher needs to become a star in the major leagues.

On Friday night, Foltynewicz pitched seven scoreless innings. He gave up only two hits, walked two and struck out 10. It was his best performance of the season, the type of game the Braves think Foltynewicz can have regularly.

Foltynewicz was tremendous. He was in complete control of the game, and he kept his composure. But then, in grand fashion for this season, the Braves turned around and lost the game 3-2 in 10 innings to waste Foltynewicz’s outing.

Welcome to the 2017 Atlanta Braves.

We are right at the one-third mark of the season. The Braves are one big roller coaster. This team is unlikely to be a playoff contender, and any hope the Braves would even be in the playoff conversation are dying with every blown lead in the ninth inning.

Foltynewicz is why this team remains a compelling story. If this rebuild is to work, the development of a pitcher to help lead the rotation is critical. If this rebuilt is to work, the Braves need Foltynewicz to do more like what he did Friday in Cincinnati.

This kid can pitch. Not everyone who hops on a mound has a high-90s fastball. Not everyone can effectively change speeds. Foltynewicz can, but he has to do it regularly to reach his potential. Along with his stuff, he has a presence on the mound in games that make him look like a potential ace.

The rebuild will be so much easier if Foltynewicz can become a true top-of-the-rotation starter. Julio Teheran is there, and they’ll both likely be joined by pitchers even younger than they are in a few months. If Foltynewicz can simply become more consistent, he will become a star.

We’ve seen young pitchers have ups and downs before. Tom Glavine was 7-17 in his first full season in Atlanta, while John Smoltz had that 2-9 start to the 1991 season. They both survived and became Hall of Famers. The Braves aren’t asking Foltynewicz to necessarily become that. They just need him to be consistent.

And that’s what this Braves team is seeking — consistency. We may think they are becoming consistently good, only to see them have a horrible week. Then they’ll follow it up with another good week and then another bad one.

This season might drive us all crazy. Friday night’s game certainly did. But watching Foltynewicz turn the corner and become a star is far more important than any record. It’s what rebuilding is all about, even if it makes us nuts along the way.

This story was originally published June 3, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Foltynewicz showing signs of turning the corner."