Three Cuts: Mike Foltynewicz's late-season resurgence helps Braves run away with NL East title

1. Mike Foltynewicz earned his playoff start

No preseason predictions accounted for Mike Foltynewicz — a 2018 All-Star entering his first season as Atlanta’s bona fide No. 1 starter — getting demoted for performance. And perhaps no midseason prognostication factored in Foltynewicz’s return to dominance for the Braves in 2019, an individual roller-coaster ride culminating in eight shutout innings to clinch the division title.

On one hand, everything made sense about Friday night’s events. For the second straight year, Mike Foltynewicz started the division-clinching game. Ronald Acuña Jr. caught the baseball that sealed the NL East crown for the second straight year. The clinching runs were driven in by the predictable quartet of Acuña, Ozzie Albies, Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann.

But Foltynewicz’s path back into the Braves’ postseason plans was far from guaranteed even two months ago. He had to earn it. And he did.

“It’s pretty special just after the year I had, man,” said Foltynewicz, who suffered a preseason setback with a bone spur in his throwing elbow. “I got to do this last year. Same exact thing: I got to start, I got to clinch it. It’s pretty special. The year I had, a lot of ups and downs. I’m glad I could just show the team how I can contribute going forward in the playoffs.“

Since returning to the major-league fold on Aug. 6, Foltynewicz is a perfect 6-0 with a 2.35 ERA, including wins over playoff-bound teams in Minnesota, Los Angeles and (likely) Washington. He’s been a borderline top-10 starter in baseball over that span with 1.3 wins above replacement and 3.46 fielding-independent pitching over 53 2/3 innings.

Pitching records do not matter, but it is at least noteworthy that the Braves have not lost a Foltynewicz outing since June 6.

It’s a pretty safe assumption the Braves will matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals and their righty-dominant lineup (Paul Goldschmidt, Marcell Ozuna, Matt Carpenter, Paul DeJong, Yadier Molina, Harrison Bader) in the NLDS, so here are the weighted on-base averages allowed by Braves starters facing right-handed hitters since the trade deadline:

Mike Foltynewicz: .262

Mike Soroka: .276

Max Fried: .301

Dallas Keuchel: .317

Julio Teheran: .322

Foltynewicz is pitching how the Braves wanted (or even expected) him to pitch in 2019 and it could not have come at a better time.