LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — It was about 20 minutes before he walked onto the field to stretch when Max Fried’s stomach began to rebel with angry butterflies. This wouldn’t seem normal for someone whose career resume includes winning a World Series-clinching game, becoming an All-Star, a three-time Gold Glove winner and a Cy Young runner-up. Let’s assume the Omaha Storm Chasers considered it a compliment that they made Fried nervous because they don’t even make the rest of Triple A nervous.
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“It’s normal for me,” Fried said later. “I always figured when I don’t get nervous anymore then it’s time for me to hang them up. I’ve always gotten nervous before any kind of major sporting event, or a test, or anything that’s considered an event. It just means I really care about it. It’s a good barometer for me.”
For the first time in two months, Fried threw a pitch in a game Sunday. Two months doesn’t amount to Michael Soroka-level absenteeism, but it was Fried’s longest time between appearances since Tommy John surgery in 2014 put him out for a year and a half.
He didn’t dominate. But his arm also didn’t fall off. Take the win.
Fried was given a hard stop of 35 pitches by the Braves medical staff in his first rehab start for Gwinnett since he suffered a forearm strain on May 5. It wasn’t a scrapbook kind of performance: He pitched to only seven batters and three of them got on base (two walks, one single). He went 1 1/3 innings and was pulled with one out in the second inning and a 2-2 count against former Braves utilityman Adeiny Hechavarria.
Forget the numbers. This was a good day because it moved Fried a step closer to returning to the majors, even if he can’t project when that will be. He needs to build his strength so he can make it through at least four or five innings. He needs to find his rhythm and improve his command (only 18 of his 35 pitches were strikes). He lost a challenge of a ball call that was rejected by a RoboUmp, but honestly he did that more for the amusement of trying.
“I knew it wasn’t a strike. I just wanted to see how it worked,” he said.
But his velocity was fine, his curveball danced, he had a brilliant pickoff move in the first inning — when he allowed three base runners but no runs — he felt “crispness” with his pitches. His objective with the strict pitch limit was less about getting everybody out than it was mixing in different pitches and getting a feel for game action again.
LHP Max Fried today begins a rehabilitation assignment with the Gwinnett Stripers.
— AtBraves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Braves) July 9, 2023
“I mean, I was planning to go out there and get a simple one-two-three (inning) and then have some extra (throws) in the bullpen,” he said. “It didn’t happen, but to be honest I kind of liked that there were some stressful innings and I walked a couple of guys. It was the longest layoff that I’ve had between outings so there’s going to be some rust that comes along with it. But the more games I have, the better off I’ll be.”
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The Braves have the best record in the majors. They’re running away with the National League East. One analytics site gives them a “100 percent” chance to make the playoffs and a “99 percent” chance to win the division. So if Fried doesn’t make it back until late July or early August, that’s fine because this is all about October now.
Which begs this question: Is there any doubt in his mind that he can get back to the level of pitcher he was for the homestretch and the postseason?
“No. I don’t see why not,” he said. “I mean, stuff-wise and all of that, I’m fine. And I’m feeling really good.”
It matters. The Braves may be capable of winning a World Series without Fried, but it wouldn’t make anybody comfortable. A top-three rotation of Fried, Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton or Bryce Elder looks a lot different than Strider-Morton-Elder.
It hasn’t been a good year for Fried. He started Opening Day, then immediately went on the injured list for more than two weeks with a strained hamstring. Then came the forearm injury in his fourth start back. He has completed only 26 innings, which ranks fifth among the team’s starters, behind even Jared Shuster.
He’s not just trying to help the Braves win their second World Series in three years. He’s trying to secure his financial future. Fried turns 30 years old in January and still has one year of arbitration left in 2024 before his first crack at free agency, which he discussed with The Athletic before the season. The unique situation of his age has made it difficult for the two sides to negotiate a long-term deal. The organization has given long-term contracts to several young players, including a pitcher (Strider), but not Fried. So being healthy and finishing strong is important.
So it makes perfect sense that he was nervous Sunday, even attributing some of his first-inning command issues to jitters. It’s also completely normal that the sudden pain in his forearm two months ago made him briefly wonder about the worst-case scenario: season-ending surgery for the second time.
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Doctors told him they believed the injury was minor and they were going to recommend just shutting him down for a while. But until the MRI results came back, Fried wasn’t sure.
“I didn’t think it was necessarily going to be extremely serious, but there’s always a little sliver of doubt in there, and it was nice to be able to put that away.”
Several Braves fans wearing “Fried” jerseys were here for his return. Fried wore “Stripers” across the chest and a hat with an angry worm wrapped around a fishhook. It was his first time back in Gwinnett since he was a rising prospect in 2018. He was called up in September that season for what he thought was a one-way trip. Health intervened.
“It was cool to come back, but I wish I wasn’t here,” he said.
Maybe it’ll be just a few more weeks. There will still be time for a season highlight.
(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
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