PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Does Max Fried think it would be cool to pitch on opening day, feeling the energy and atmosphere around him? Sure. But he knows there are 162 games, and the opener is simply the first of them.
Fried doesn’t know whether he or teammate Charlie Morton will pitch on opening day – they’re both lined up for it – but he doesn’t seem to care. He’s more focused on the bigger picture.
“To me, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just another game,” Fried said Sunday. “Whether they hand me the ball on the first day or the second day, I’ll take it and do the exact same thing. I’m just going to try to win the game. All of that’s kind of out of my control.”
While Morton traveled to Port Charlotte for a start against the Rays, Fried on Sunday pitched in a simulated game at CoolToday Park. He threw five innings against some of the Braves’ best hitters, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out two and walked two. By this reporter’s count, he threw 68 pitches.
The Braves starters Fried faced: Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson. Acuña hit Fried’s first pitch to the wall for a double (but didn’t run due to it being a controlled environment), then Albies doubled to score a run.
“To me, it doesn't really matter. It's just another game. Whether they hand me the ball on the first day or the second day, I'll take it and do the exact same thing. I'm just going to try to win the game. All of that's kind of out of my control."
The lefty settled in from there. In his third inning, he won a five-pitch at-bat against Olson with a curveball that got Olson way out in front. Fried issued both of his walks in that same inning, but his teammates couldn’t make him pay.
“Obviously, I would prefer to be in a real game, (with) the atmosphere and all that,” Fried said. “But to be able to have this as something to fall back on, it’s as good as I could have asked for.”
Fried said he felt like he threw every pitch well Sunday. He faced tougher competition than he would have had he pitched against the Rays in Port Charlotte.
Last season, Fried pitched to a 3.04 ERA over 28 starts. His best moment came in Game 6 of the World Series, when he shut out the Astros over six innings as the Braves won the World Series.
Fried, who is at the front end of the Braves’ rotation, is one of three locks to be included in that group (Morton and Ian Anderson are the others). The Braves need him to be consistent throughout this season, especially because they’ve yet to acquire another impact starter.
When discussing consistency, Fried said it’s important to focus on the little details in between starts while ensuring he is mentally and physically prepared to pitch.
“And just knowing that you have once every five days to take the ball and you got to make the most of that opportunity,” Fried said. “I want to go out there and win, and I know that if I have a bad outing, it’s going to be four or five more days until I go out there again. Treat every game like a playoff game, that kind of magnitude, and you really just put the emphasis on that specific day in the present.”
Below are the results of each at-bat of Fried’s simulated game:
First inning
Acuña Jr.: Double to the wall
Albies: RBI double
Olson: Flyout
Riley: Groundout to the shortstop
Swanson: Groundout to the third baseman on a ball that hit Fried’s foot (he was OK)
Second inning
Acuña: Flyout
Riley: Swinging strikeout
Swanson: Groundout to third base
Third inning
Acuña: Walk
Albies: Groundout to the shortstop
Olson: Swinging strikeout
Riley: Walk
Swanson: Groundout to the shortstop
Fourth inning
Albies: Groundout to third base
Olson: Popout
Riley: Double
(Note: You’ll notice there aren’t three outs here. That’s because the Braves rolled this inning to control Fried’s pitch count.)
Fifth inning
Albies: Flyout
Olson: Flyout
Riley: Flyout
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