The Braves are planning to activate left-hander Max Fried from the 15-day injured listing to be able to begin the membership’s sport in opposition to the Marlins Sunday afternoon, as supervisor Brian Snitker advised reporters (together with Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Structure). The southpaw has been on the shelf since late final month on account of forearm neuritis. Atlanta might want to make room for Fried on the lively roster previous to his begin.
Fried, 30, had an unsure timetable for return when he was first positioned on the shelf however happily will get pleasure from a near-minimum keep on the IL when all is claimed and completed. It’s absolutely a reduction for Braves followers that Fried was in a position to return so shortly given the membership’s latest struggles; the membership is simply 14-13 since July 1 and 7-7 for the reason that All Star break. Different golf equipment within the NL wild-card race have caught as much as the Braves whereas they’ve been spinning their wheels, because the Diamondbacks are at present simply 1.5 video games again of Atlanta for the highest wild-card velocity, whereas the Mets and Padres are each tied for the third and last spot simply half a sport behind Arizona.
With a lot crowding within the wild-card image, the Braves should be desirous to welcome again Fried, who has been one of many league’s steadiest pitchers ever since breaking out in the course of the shortened 2020 season. Because the begin of that yr, Fried has posted a dominant 2.73 ERA and three.12 FIP in 101 begins regardless of a comparatively pedestrian 23.3% strikeout charge. It’s been extra of the identical for the lefty this yr as he’s posted a 3.08 ERA and three.55 FIP in 18 begins for the Braves this yr even after a brutal begin to the season the place he allowed 15 runs (14 earned) in his first 16 1/3 frames this yr. He’s been nothing wanting dominant since then, nevertheless, serving to to kind a three-headed monster on the entrance of Atlanta’s rotation alongside Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez that has helped the membership overcome its lackluster efficiency on offense.
In welcoming Fried again to the rotation, the Braves determine to purchase themselves just a little bit extra time in determining easy methods to cope with Lopez’s personal damage woes. The righty left his most up-to-date begin for the membership on Sunday after simply three innings on account of forearm tightness. Whereas an MRI in the end revealed no structural harm, Lopez has nonetheless been day-to-day ever since. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman relayed earlier Saturday that the right-hander nonetheless has but to throw a bullpen since leaving his begin at the start of the week, although he added that it “looks as if” the membership believes he might return to the mound inside the subsequent week. That will seemingly make it unlikely that Fried is ready to interchange Lopez within the rotation, as an IL stint can solely be backdated a most of three days, that means a visit to the 15-day IL for Lopez would nonetheless maintain him out of motion for practically two weeks after he’s faraway from the lively roster.
With rookie Spencer Schwellenbach having usually impressed with a 4.03 ERA and three.46 FIP via 11 begins, it appears potential that lefty Grant Holmes may very well be the odd man out within the rotation combine upon Fried’s return. A former first-round choose by the Dodgers again in 2014, Holmes made his massive league debut with Atlanta again in June and has pitched nicely for the membership up to now with a 2.54 ERA and a pair of.22 FIP in 28 1/3 frames. Fried’s return doesn’t essentially imply the top of Holmes’s time on the roster, nevertheless. With Lopez out of fee in the interim, the membership might actually profit from shifting Holmes again into his earlier position as a multi-inning reliever or maybe even maintaining him out there as a spot starter within the occasion that Lopez does wind up requiring a visit to the injured listing.
