NORTH PORT, Fla. — Max Fried still gets butterflies – even for an outing like the one Monday.
“Every time,” he said. “Every time I go out there, I get butterflies. I’ll tell my friends and everything: If I don’t get butterflies anymore, I’ll probably know it’s time to stop playing. Every single time, I get nervous, I get butterflies before I go out, so it’s fun.”
Truth be told, Monday held no pressure for Fried or Spencer Strider, who made their Grapefruit League debuts. Fried pitched the first two innings, and Strider tossed the next two. Neither allowed a run.
“The whole goal was just to pitch and get a feel for having a guy in the box and keep getting my delivery synced up and that kind of stuff,” Strider said. “There’s a lot of spring left. There’ll be a lot more opportunities to pick something specific and work on it if you want to.”
In the Braves’ 7-0 win over Toronto at CoolToday Park – which put Atlanta in the win column in exhibition play – Fried allowed two hits and struck out four batters. Strider, who got up to 98 mph on the stadium radar gun, didn’t surrender a hit. He walked one batter and struck out another.
At this point in the spring, pitchers are trying to gain a feel for their pitches. They’re beginning to build up. In this case, Fried and Strider worked with a pitch clock in a game for the first time (neither had trouble).
Fried is young but experienced. He knows what to expect in spring training as he gradually ramps up to regular-season form.
“I think it’s just more about focusing on the things that I really want to be working on right now, and to get myself ready for the season, to be able to pitch for six months at a high level,” Fried said. “So just trying to get all the little things that you work (on) in the offseason and try to correct from the year before. If you use spring as that kind of – I don’t know if (you’d say) barometer, but definitely just trying to use all of that to my advantage as best as I can.”
This season, Strider, a routine-oriented person, knows his situation. He’ll be in the rotation. It’s his first normal spring training – he dealt with the post-COVID spring in 2021, then the lockout last year. And last season, he had no idea if he’d make the team or what role he might play if he did.
“I still take the approach that I’m trying to earn a spot, just because I don’t ever want to be complacent or think I’ve made it or anything like that,” Strider said. “Yeah, I still have to get ready. Fortunately, there is plenty of time this year. We know how long things are gonna go, so you can kind of map it out. But, yeah, there’ll be plenty of things to work on here as we get going more.”
It’s not crazy to think Fried and Strider could both finish in the top five in National League Cy Young voting later this year.
“It was nice to get them out there and get them rolling,” manager Brian Snitker said.
Snitker said Fried and Strider will pitch again on the same day next time around. Ian Anderson, who is competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, will start Tuesday’s game versus the Twins in Fort Myers.
Sean Murphy debuts
Sean Murphy, the Braves’ biggest offseason addition, made his spring debut in Monday’s win.
Murphy laced a double to left field in one of his two at-bats, but the more important part of his afternoon might have been that he caught Fried and Strider in a competitive game for the first time.
“He’s really, really talented, really good back there,” Fried said. “Didn’t get to see him show off his arm, but just being able to have those conversations in the dugout in between innings, catching my pregame bullpen, those kinds of things. It was really nice working with him, though.”
“He gives a good sign, glove looks huge, just like Travis (d’Arnaud),” Strider said. “I’m confident that he’s gonna call a good game, and he does.”
It’ll take time for Murphy to learn the finer points of how all of his new pitchers like to work. But his work has started. He has caught bullpen sessions, live batting practice and now a game.
“Really good,” Snitker said. “It’s nice to get him there with Max and Strider. That was really beneficial today for him to catch them during a game.”
Strider walked the leadoff man to begin the fourth inning. Murphy paid him a visit.
Then Strider induced a double play.
“He’s already turned me into a veteran pitcher who can get double plays when he needs them, just by having him around,” Strider joked.
Lots of offense
The Braves’ regulars jumped on Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison and Trevor Richards, the pitcher who followed him.
The Braves scored two runs in the first inning and three in the third. They were so active that Fried didn’t notice a faster pace of play with the new pitch clock while he was in the dugout – his teammates, after all, were putting on a show.
“I mean, would love to save a lot of those hits for the season, but it’s nice that they’re getting going, getting confident,” Fried said jokingly. “Guys are having fun. A lot of the work they put in this offseason, you’re seeing it here.”
In the first inning, Matt Olson hit a run-scoring double. Michael Harris later drove in a run with a single.
In the third, Harris hit a run-scoring triple and then scored on a groundout. Vaughn Grissom lifted a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
“A lot of them guys are swinging the bat good,” Snitker said. “It’s only their second game, but some of them, they’re really good.”
That could be due to many position players arriving much sooner than the report date. They’ve been hitting and working out for a couple weeks at this point.
“They’ve had a lot of live at-bats,” Snitker said. “A lot of them, the timing, because of that, is a little more timed up right now than guys normally would be, probably.”
Chipper vs. Strider
Who would win a battle between Strider and Chipper Jones in his prime?
“I don’t want to speculate on that one too much,” Strider said, flashing a smile. “You might get different answers depending on who you ask.”
How would he get Jones out?
“Probably the same way I get everybody else out: Throw the ball as hard as I can and hope,” Strider said.
Jones, who is rejoining the Braves’ staff as a major-league hitting consultant, arrived to spring training Monday.
