Max Fried had the best season of his career in 2020. Consider Thursday’s announcement another reward for his breakthrough.
The Braves named Fried their opening-day starter for April 1 in Philadelphia. This will be Fried’s first opening-day nod.
“It’s something you dream about,” Fried said. “It’s something you work for. To actually have (manager Brian Snitker) walk up to me and tell me this morning is pretty special.”
The announcement is a culmination of Fried’s progress since 2017, when the Braves promoted him from Double-A and he appeared in nine games across his debut season. Fried established himself in the rotation in 2019 and took a massive leap forward last season. In fact, during the shortened campaign, Fried was the Braves’ only constant as the rotation around him crumbled.
Fried thrived under additional pressure and responsibility. He had a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts, striking out 50 and walking 19 in 56 innings. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting and won his first Gold Glove. The most important stat: The Braves won 10 of his 11 outings (plus a 3-1 mark in the postseason). Fried truly carried the rotation at times, helping the Braves to their third consecutive National League East title.
“His work last year put him in position to get this honor,” Snitker said. “It was a big honor for a guy. The biggest thing is I think he felt ready for it, and he’ll respond to it. ... The starts he’s been through, the playoff starts, he’ll have the experience to channel that emotion, energy and excitement. I have all the confidence in the world in him making that start.”
The day will be even more special for Fried because of his company. His friends Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito are the opening-day starters for the Cardinals and White Sox, respectively. The trio played together in high school at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles and they’ve remained close throughout their careers.
“That’s crazy,” Fried said. “I’m really happy and excited for those guys. They’ve worked extremely hard to put themselves in that position. To share that, and be pitching the same day as those guys, is pretty cool.”
Fried, 27, will be the Braves’ third opening-day starter in as many years, following Julio Teheran and Mike Soroka. Teheran started a team-record six consecutive opening days before Soroka made his first opening-day start against the Mets in July to open the truncated 2020 season.
Fried also will be the first left-hander to start for the Braves on opening day since Tom Glavine in 2002. The Braves’ opening-day starters in that time frame: Greg Maddux (2003), Russ Ortiz (2004), John Smoltz (2005, 2007), Tim Hudson (2006, 2008, 2013), Derek Lowe (2009-11), Tommy Hanson (2012), Teheran (2014-19) and Soroka.
“Opening day is such a special day, just to get baseball started and going,” Fried said. “I’m excited to be part of it and play opening day. It’s really cool. But at the end of the day, it’s the first game of the season. First of 162. So I’m going to go out there and do the same thing I’ve been doing just trying to win the ballgame.”
The game will feature a tantalizing matchup between two of the NL East’s toughest pitchers. Fried will oppose Phillies ace Aaron Nola, who’ll make his fourth consecutive opening-day start. It’s the second time in three seasons the Braves have started the season in Philadelphia, and the third time in four years they’ll begin the season against the Phillies.
The Phillies went 28-32 last season, placing third in the division. They enter the new year with renewed postseason aspirations.
“They’re a really good team,” Fried said. “They play us tough every time we play them. Nola is an extremely competitive and really good pitcher. He makes a lot of great, quality pitches. He’s been doing it at an extremely high level the last couple years. You have to be on top of your game. It’s going to be fun for me competing out there.”
