When first baseman Freddie Freeman was asked who the Braves’ first-half MVP was, he didn’t hesitate.
“Max Fried, no doubt,” Freeman said. “When you lose Mike Soroka after three starts, and how he’s stepped up. I’ve been saying for a few years how special that left arm is. You saw it last year, and now he’s really putting it together. We wouldn’t be here without Max.”
The Braves reached the midway point of their season Wednesday, sweeping a doubleheader against the Yankees to earn an 18-12 record, which is tied for the second-best record in the National League. When considering the circumstances, that seems borderline improbable.
If someone told you in early July what the Braves were going to endure through 30 games — Freeman’s positive COVID-19 test, losing two catchers on opening day, Soroka’s torn Achilles and the rotation falling apart, the laundry list of other injuries, the schedule — you probably wouldn’t have them sitting pretty in first place.
Yet they’ve only strengthened their position as NL East favorites. Fried’s steadiness as the Braves’ new No. 1 starter is arguably the main reason why. It’s difficult to imagine where the rotation would be without him.
“Huge, huge, huge,” manager Brian Snitker said of Fried. “We handed him the baton, and he ran with it. He’s consistent. He took the ball and he stopped things from happening, losing streaks or whatever. He’s the one guy you can count on and he didn’t disappoint. That says a lot, when you put that kind of pressure and responsibility onto a guy, for him to come through says a lot about the maturity and the kind of player that he is.”
Fried built a strong Cy Young Award case across his first seven starts: He has a 1.35 ERA and 38:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 40 innings. He owns a 0.95 WHIP and has held opponents to a .190 average. If you care about pitcher wins and losses, he’s 5-0 in that category, too.
Not only is Fried’s 2.4 bWAR the highest among major league pitchers, it’s the highest overall. Fried has a higher bWAR than Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis Jr. By that number, he also has a case for NL MVP.
Fried’s ascent came at the perfect time. The producers of the “The Bachelor” would blush at the Braves’ unrelenting rotation drama. Forget replacing Soroka; they haven’t figured out how to replace Julio Teheran. From Mike Foltynewicz to Sean Newcomb to Touki Toussaint to Kyle Wright, they haven’t had another pitcher become consistently serviceable to this point.
Before Soroka went down, it was evident that beyond him and Fried, the group would struggle. When the injury occurred, many simply wrote the Braves off as a pennant contender. But glancing around the NL, outside Los Angeles, there isn’t a team anyone would confidently pick over the Braves in a postseason series.
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
It’s because Fried has been, and it isn’t really an exaggeration, the season’s savior. He’s assumed a workhorse role, pitching the second-most innings in the NL. He’s tied for the lowest qualifying ERA in the majors, equaling the Indians’ Shane Bieber, who’s the clear Cy Young front-runner in the AL.
The Braves hoped Fried would make a leap before the season. Even their most optimistic wishes couldn’t have projected this.
“It’s quite obvious to a lot of us who’ve watched him for so long,” Soroka said Wednesday, discussing Fried’s progress. “I always say, he’s got that change-up now, but if you got to watch video of him throwing in the playoffs in low-A in 2016, it’s obvious. His talent was much beyond where he was always kind of looked at. It was a matter of consistency for him, a consistent mindset. He’s found that.
“I think watching and talking to (friends Jack) Flaherty and (Lucas) Giolito (has helped) as well. We all watched (Giolito’s no-hitter Tuesday) night, that was special for him.
“Fried is a competitor. He wants to do the best he can. It’s been really fun to watch. He’s been consistent. He’s been attacking. He believes in everything he’s throwing. He does a ton of work off the field, too, as far as advanced work. He’s super-prepared when he goes out, and it’s showing. He’s proving that he’s going to be and can be one of the elite starters in baseball. And I think he will be for a while.”
If this Fried is here to stay, the Braves can rightfully dream of dual aces when Soroka returns in 2021. In the meantime, Fried will try to lead the Braves deeper into October than anyone imagined was possible earlier this month.
But dialogue around that lofty task, and the Cy Young award, will be left to reporters and fans. Fried isn’t keen on self-centered conversation. He’ll always deflect to the greater team discussion.
“I’m happy with how the year has gone, with the team,” Fried said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries. We’ve had an uphill battle. A lot of teams around have had to do it. For me, it’s just going out there and trying to win the game when I have the opportunity.”
