SAN DIEGO — Depending on who you ask, Max Fried has ascended into baseball’s tier of true aces. But he certainly is one of the game’s best arms. He’s masterful, from his nasty stuff to his overall athletic ability.
There’s something behind all of that, something none of us see: Detailed preparation.
“He dives into literally everything,” Austin Riley said. “He has a game plan, to me, on top of a game plan. He has an A,B,C plan.”
For Fried, preparation is a way to supplement his natural gifts. It allows him to feel comfortable on the mound as he goes through a start.
Anything can happen, and preparation allows him to be ready for everything.
“I think it’s a lot about doing whatever I need to do to feel the most confident out there in any situation,” Fried said after shutting down the Padres on Monday. “You’re on a mound by yourself, kind of like on an island, so if you’re as prepared as possible, there’s not a situation that comes up that you don’t feel like you can handle.”
In 2012, the Padres drafted Fried in the first round, with the seventh overall pick. San Diego eventually traded Fried to the Braves, where he’s developed into one of baseball’s top starting pitchers. He closed out the Astros to bring a World Series to Atlanta. He’s an All-Star. After next season – if the Braves don’t give him a contract extension before then – he could receive a large contract.
Fried’s natural gifts are tantalizing. He throws six different pitches. His fastball averages around 94 mph, but he can pump it up a few ticks when needed. His slider and curveball can be devastating.
His preparation also is key.
Braves manager Brian Snitker on Monday called Fried “one of the most dedicated guys I’ve ever been around in my life.” He said this in response to a question about Fried throwing five shutout innings against San Diego after having 17 days between outings. Fried, Snitker said, is the last person he has to worry about in terms of preparation and doing the work to be ready for a start.
“I think they learn (about preparation) as they go,” Snitker said Tuesday. “You’re around veteran guys. I think a guy like Brian McCann, when he came over here the second time, had learned a lot and all that. He was really good with a lot of our young pitchers in how to study and prepare for a ballgame. You learn from guys that have been doing it for a while, and then you learn what you want, how you want to do it. I think they need a little guidance in that to figure out how to do it.”
No one Kyle Wright has seen prepares more than Fried. “He’s just super diligent,” Wright said. Fried’s scouting work begins days in advance, Wright added. But there’s something special about the lefty.
He can attack hitters’ weaknesses as well as he pitches to his own strengths – “Which is not easy to do as pitchers because sometimes we do that too much and then we get away from what we do well,” Wright said. “But his ability to do both is what really separates him.”
Fried is another case of what makes MLB players so special: As talented as they are, they constantly are working on all corners of their crafts. Every five days, we see Fried’s incredible stuff. He possesses a bulldog mentality. He goes right after guys.
We don’t see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into performing at that level.
“He’s constantly going through those situations in his head to where nothing’s a surprise to him, I feel like,” Riley said. “No matter the pitch sequence, no matter the count, he’s already kind of gone through it in his head and then he decides what he wants to throw, and then he attacks it. I think that’s the separator.”
Braves starters for the Houston series
After Thursday’s off-day, the Braves will begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros, who are led by general manager Dana Brown, a former vice president of scouting for the Braves.
The Braves’ starters are as follows: Bryce Elder on Friday, Kyle Wright on Saturday, Fried on Sunday.
