Braves name Max Fried their opening-day starter

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Braves pondered two names to be their opening-day starter: Max Fried and Charlie Morton.

In the end, the guy who started their final game of 2021 will throw the first pitch of 2022.

Fried was chosen as the Braves’ opening-day starter as they begin defending their World Series title. Morton will start the second game, and Ian Anderson will pitch the third.

“We can’t go wrong with him or Charlie,” manager Brian Snitker said after Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox. “Max has pitched in really big games for us in his young career, and it just kind of seems like a nice honor to bestow on him. Charlie is kind of the elder statesman who’s been through anything.”

Last year, Fried tossed six shutout innings as the Braves closed out the Astros in the World Series. The left-hander made 28 starts in the regular season and pitched to a 3.04 ERA. He posted 5.4 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference.

“We can't go wrong with him or Charlie. Max has pitched in really big games for us in his young career, and it just kind of seems like a nice honor to bestow on him. Charlie is kind of the elder statesman who's been through anything."

- Braves manager Brian Snitker, after Max Fried was given the opening-day nod

“There’s no right or wrong,” Snitker said when asked if Game 6 was a factor in the decision. “Just Max’s total body of work more than one outing is what we’re looking at.”

In 2014, the Braves acquired Fried in the trade that sent Justin Upton to the Padres. Fried debuted for the club in 2017.

Since then, he’s logged 447 innings for the Braves. He has a 3.34 ERA. Since 2018, he’s pitched in 17 postseason games, including four in the National League Championship Series and two in the World Series.

Snitker said he waited until Wednesday to tell Fried and Morton about the decision. He said both pitchers told him they would pitch whichever game Snitker chose for them, which is something both have said publicly this spring.

In 2021, Morton posted a 3.34 ERA over 33 starts. He became a postseason hero of sorts for fans because he managed to get three outs after fracturing his right fibula in Game 1 of the World Series.

“Originally coming in, we didn’t know where Charlie would be,” Snitker said. “We didn’t realize he’d be this far along. We didn’t know what might be. Where he’s at, I love it, where he’s at. I love that we’re slotting him in (No. 2) because we thought we may have to hold off on him a little bit because we didn’t know how the foot would respond and all that.”

Snitker had two great options for an opening-day starter. In a way, this made the decision simple.

“You can’t wrong with either one of them,” he said.