Mike Foltynewicz is considered one of the early favorites to win the Braves' No. 5 starting spot, MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports.

Foltynewicz is considered one of the early favorites to win the Braves' No. 5 starting spot, MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports.

Analysis:

Along with Foltynewicz, lefty Eric Stults, who will attend spring training as a non-roster invitee, is a leading candidate to win the job, while two veterans returning from injury -- Wandy Rodriguez and Chien-Ming Wang -- probably lag a bit further behind. As by far the youngest of the contenders for the gig, the 23-year-old Foltynewicz would seem to have the most upside of the group, but he'll probably need a dominant spring to avoid a deployment at Triple-A Gwinnett. Acquired from the Astros two weeks earlier in the Evan Gattis trade, Foltynewicz struggled in his first taste of the big leagues last season with Houston, compiling a 5.30 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over 18.2 innings, all of which came out of the bullpen.