Max Fried dwarfed the Cubs in his last outing, pitching six scoreless frames with five strikeouts and no walks. That came after a pair of scoreless relief appearances.
The Braves couldn’t have asked for a better start for their lefty. Fried, who’s spent much of his young career yanked between the majors and minors, isn’t being given a chance to cement his place; he’s forcing it.
Armed with pitching depth of which few can compare, the Braves can shuffle their rotation as they please. For Fried to be a mainstay, it has to be earned. In many organizations, Fried would be a rotation shoo-in.
“It’s always healthy to have competition,” he said. “It pushes you that much further, gives you something to work on. It keeps that edge.”
Fried had an excellent spring. His fastball has been crisp from the get-go. His signature curveball draws a few oohs and awes during each performance.
He’s drawing groundballs, including 11 against Chicago, which would be ideal at Coors Field. Fried pitched in Denver in 2017 - allowing three runs, walking three and striking out two in 2-2/3 innings - but he doesn’t recall noticing a major difference.
“I’m just going to stick to my game,” Fried said. “I’m not going to do anything too crazy. A lot of people have pitched here. You can’t try to reinvent yourself. It’s a really good lineup. They’ve been in the playoffs the last couple years. Definitely a really good team. I have my work cut out for me.”
