A bright, coruscating tie-dye shirt draped over the back of Max Fried’s chair in the depths of the Braves’ spring training facility. It was marked by a teddy-bear image, which prompted a few laughs as teammates strolled by.
This is the newer Fried, bursting with confidence that previously quivered during his minor league days.
“Even watching Max show up in something like that today, that’s something that’s awesome to see,” said Mike Soroka, who’s stationed at the adjacent locker. “He himself is really coming out. It’s fun to see stuff like that.”
Fresh off his first full season as a starter, Fried hopes to be a bit flashier. Along with his beaming confidence, Fried has refined his arsenal. Namely, he wants his change-up to propel him to the next notch.
The left-hander is best known for his confounding curveball, which aptly pairs with a fastball and slider, the latter of which was newly implemented for the 2019 season. Fried’s seldom-used change-up, meanwhile, was thrown just 64 times (roughly 2.4 percent of his pitches, per Baseball Savant).
“It was obviously a pitch I threw less of, with the slider coming into play last year,” Fried said. “I just want to keep having that fourth pitch to keep hitters off balance. Coming into the offseason, that’s something I wanted to improve on. I definitely worked really hard with that.”
Since his debut in August 2017, Fried has given plenty reason to reassess his ceiling. Already a well-regarded arm, he’s bolstered his fastball command, added a potent slider and, according to himself and teammates, made his change-up a more worthy tool. All while keeping his signature curve.
“He’s working on getting his change-up more consistent, the action of it,” catcher Tyler Flowers said. “It could be a really nice weapon for him in addition to three other weapons he has. That could really make him something real special or even elite.”
Fried had a 4.02 ERA across 33 games (30 starts) last season, striking out 173 against 47 walks. He logged 165-2/3 innings after pitching 59-2/3 across the past two campaigns. He was the team’s best bullpen weapon in the postseason, allowing no runs in his first three appearances (2-1/3 innings) before running out of gas in the Braves’ disastrous Game 5 defeat.
Like the rest of the club, Fried put those demons behind him. He preaches about returning to the postseason and winning on that stage. His part in the mission, to quote Bill Belichick: Do your job.
“I’m fine-tuning my game, getting more consistent,” Fried said. “There were some times when I felt like some outings got out of my hands. As long as I control what I can control, and keep it as consistent as possible, I think that’ll do well, especially across the course of a season.
“You learn a lot in your first full season of ups and downs. Just getting in the hang of things. For me, confidence is still there. I’m excited to get going.”
That confidence, topped by the strides he made a year ago and trio of surgical playoff showings, has teammates giddy for what’s coming. Their freely spoken, heightened expectations suggest another leap could be on the horizon.
At the Chop Fest fan event last month, Freddie Freeman declared Fried would be “phenomenal, better than last year.” Soroka feels Fried will be “nasty, nastier than ever.” The southpaw earns such respect because he’s proved to add more to his game every year. For many pitchers, it’s a question of physical ability, mental processing or ‘stuff.’ Fried has shown development in each area.
The overarching element of his growth is his buzzing confidence. He formed an attacking mindset through bullpen reps. Over three seasons, he’s learned he can get big-league hitters out through a variety of means. He had minimal injury concerns last year – just one blister incident – which was encouraging considering how they plagued his early career.
Through it all, he developed stronger mental fortitude. Fried, a southern California native, might’ve discovered his own Mamba Mentality.
“I think the best part of watching Max over the past few years has been watching his confidence,” Soroka said. “He’ll tell you the same thing. When he was in (Single-A) Rome with all of us, he was searching for confidence. Now it’s innate. The confidence he comes to the park with every single day, he wants to be nasty. It’s contagious.”
Fried’s floor could be set: a good middle-of-the-rotation starter. His ceiling is undefined, though last October illustrated how important he could be as a playoff piece.
The Braves, who appear set to be frequent postseason participants for a while, need a versatile, willing player such as Fried. Performers of his ilk have shown to be invaluable on the grandest stage, a timely contributor who could be deployed in any spot and ready for any situation. Whether it’s starting, relieving or a bit of both, he’s a factor.
Maybe in future Octobers, we’ll learn what a difference a Fried makes.
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