Max Fried

Max Dorian Fried (/ˈfriːd/ FREED;[1] born January 18, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round, seventh overall, in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut in 2017. His 17 wins in 2019 were 2nd-most in the National League.

Max Fried
Fried with the Atlanta Braves in 2019
Atlanta Braves – No. 54
Pitcher
Born: (1994-01-18) January 18, 1994
Santa Monica, California
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 8, 2017, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Win–loss record19–11
Earned run average3.83
Strikeouts239
Teams
Medals
Representing  United States
Maccabiah Games
2009 Israel Junior baseball

Early life

Fried was born and grew up in Santa Monica, California, the middle son of Carrie and Jonathan Fried, and is Jewish.[2][3][4][5] He attended synagogue on High Holidays, and had a bar mitzvah.[5] His younger brother Jake, also a pitcher, attends the University of Arizona.[6][7]

High school

For high school Fried first attended Montclair College Preparatory School, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, where he played baseball, football, and basketball.[4] In 2009, he was a member of the gold medal-winning 2009 Maccabiah Games Team USA Juniors baseball team.[8]

As a high school sophomore, with Ethan Katz as his pitching coach, he was 10–3 with a 1.81 earned run average (ERA), while batting .446 with four home runs and 40 RBIs, and was named the Olympic League MVP and to the All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division V first team.[9][10][11][12] In his junior year Fried was 7–3 with a 1.31 ERA, with 100 strikeouts in 69 innings, as he also played outfield and batted .360 with four home runs and 30 RBIs.[13][14] He was named the 2011 So Cal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Male High School Athlete of The Year.[11]

After Montclair Prep cut its baseball team and other extracurricular activities subsequent to his junior year, Fried transferred to Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where he wore uniform # 32 in honor of Sandy Koufax.[8] In his senior year in 2012 Fried was 8–2 with a 2.02 ERA, and 105 strikeouts in 66 innings.[15][16] He was a 2012 Rawlings-Perfect Game 1st Team All-American.[17]

Draft and minor leagues

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres selected Fried in the first round, with the seventh overall selection, of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[18] Baseball America rated him the top left-hander available in the draft, high school or college.[19] Though Fried had committed to the UCLA Bruins baseball team, he chose instead to sign with the Padres for $3 million.[2][20]

Fried made his professional debut for the Arizona League Padres in 2012 and spent the whole season there, going 0–1 with a 3.57 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched. He played for the Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2013 where he compiled a 6–7 record and 3.49 ERA in 23 starts. At the end of the year, Fried was ranked the 43rd-best prospect in the minors by MLBPipeline.[21] He was also named an MiLB.com Padres Organization All Star, and Baseball America ranked his curveball as the best in the Padres' minor league system.[22][23]

In 2014, he was ranked the Padres' top pitching prospect, and their No. 2 prospect overall, by MLB.com.[22] Fried was also ranked 53rd in Baseball America’s 2014 pre-season rankings.[24] Fried was injured for much of the year and did not make his season debut until July. The next month, on August 20, Fried underwent Tommy John surgery; he missed the remainder of the 2014 season.[21]

Atlanta Braves

On December 19, 2014, the Padres traded Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, and Mallex Smith to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Justin Upton and Aaron Northcraft.[25] Fried missed the entire 2015 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.[21]

He returned to action on April 9, 2016, for the Rome Braves.[26] Fried spent all of 2016 with Rome, pitching to an 8–7 record and 3.93 ERA in 21 games (20 starts). Fried ended the season ranked by Baseball America as the 6th-best prospect in the South Atlantic League.[27] His fastball, clocked at 93–94 mph, reached 96–97 mph in the second half of the season.[28] The Braves added Fried to their 40-man roster after the season.[29]

Fried was invited to spring training for the first time at the start of the 2017 season.[30] Fried began the season at the Class AA level with the Mississippi Braves.[31][32] He was ranked as the Braves' No. 8 prospect overall by MLB.com.[33] He was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 30.[34] In July, MLB.com ranked him the #89 prospect in minor league baseball.[35]

Major leagues

Atlanta Braves (2017–present)

2017

Fried was called up to the Atlanta Braves on August 5, 2017.[36][37] He was called up straight from Class Double-A to the big leagues, without pitching in Triple-A.[38] He debuted on August 8, throwing two scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, displaying what David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called "a devastating curveball".[39][40] Two weeks later, Fried returned to the minor leagues, joining the AAA Gwinnett Braves.[41] In 26 innings pitched for the Braves for the season, he was 1–1 with a 3.81 ERA.[42]

At the end of the 2017 season, Fried joined the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League, for whom he was named league Player of the Week on October 31.[43][44] He led the league with 32 strikeouts in 26 innings (3rd in the league), and was 3–1 with a 1.73 ERA (6th in the league) in six starts.[45][46] He ranked first among starters with a .163 opponents’ average, was second in fewest-baserunners-allowed-per-nine-innings (7.96), and was named to the AFL’s Top Prospects Team.[45] Baseball America rated him # 3 on the AFL Hot Sheet.[47] In December, Braves manager Brian Snitker said that he might look at Fried, Lucas Sims, or another pitcher as the team's fifth starter in 2018.[48]

2018

Fried began the 2018 season with the Mississippi Braves. After one game, he joined the Gwinnett Stripers.[49] He was called up to Atlanta in April.[50] In 33.2 innings pitched for the Braves in the 2018 regular season, he was 1–4 with 44 strikeouts and a 2.94 ERA.[42] With runners in scoring position he kept batters to one hit in 30 at bats (.033); with RISP and two outs, opposing batters were 0-for-14 with eight strikeouts.[51]

2019

Fried was placed in the bullpen at the start of the 2019 season, and later moved to the starting rotation.[52][53][54] In a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 7, Fried was hit on the left hand by a batted ball from Alex Verdugo.[55][56] Fried avoided major injury, left the game, and made his next regularly scheduled start.[57][58][59][60]

In 2019 Fried was 17–6 with a 4.02 ERA, as in 33 games (30 starts) he pitched 165.2 innings in which he struck out 173 batters.[61] His 17 wins were 2nd in the National League, and his .739 won-loss percentage was 5th in the league.[61] He induced the second-lowest percentage of fly balls (22.2%), and the third-highest percentage of ground balls (53.6%), of all NL pitchers, and threw his curveball 24.6% of the time (6th in the league).[62] On defense, he led all NL pitchers in assists with 34, and had the 2nd-best range factor/9 innings pitched of 2.23.[61] He had a 6 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the best in the major leagues among pitchers.[63] Fried also batted .196 (9th among NL pitchers)/.262 (6th)/.268 (10th), and led all NL pitchers with at least 50 plate appearances in runs (11) and BB/SO ratio (0.31), while having the 2nd-lowest swinging strike percentage (7.1%), 3rd in contact percentage (81.6%) and tying for 3rd in walks (5).[64] Fried throws a 94–96 mph fastball, two types of a "plus" curveball (which he patterned after that of Sandy Koufax), and a change-up.[24][65]

See also

References
  1. Mississippi Braves Official Roster (as of April 4, 2017). Retrieved August 6, 2019
  2. Sondheimer, Eric (June 5, 2012). "Fried and Giolito are first-round selections". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  3. "Max Fried Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  4. "Field of Dreams; Catching up with Max Fried, first round draft pick of the San Diego Padres … on the Encino pitcher's mound where it all began". Ventura Blvd Magazine. July 20, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  5. Max Fried's Birthright From Israel to SunTrust Park | Atlanta Jewish Times
  6. Eric Sondheimer (January 30, 2015). "Pitcher Jake Fried ...," Twitter.
  7. "Trailblazers in College," sierracanyonathletics.com.
  8. Oster, Marcy (June 5, 2012). "Max Fried, 18, drafted by Padres". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  9. "San Francisco Giants announce 2019 player development staff and affiliate staffs". MLB.com. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  10. "Max Fried's (Van Nuys, CA) Baseball Stats". MaxPreps. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  11. "Max Fried; 2011 Male High School Athlete of The Year". Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  12. Gerry Gittelson (March 4, 2011). "High School Baseball: All-Daily News preseason team". Daily News. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  13. Gerry Gittelson (August 20, 2011). "Top Baseball Pitcher Transfers to Harvard-Westlake". North Hollywood, CA Patch. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  14. "Baseball star joins senior class". The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle. September 7, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  15. Matt Rembsberg (April 4, 2012). "Dream rotation of Lucas Giolito and Max Fried thrown a changeup". ESPN. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  16. Sean Ceglinsky (June 6, 2012). "Max Fried celebrates his high pick in MLB Draft". MaxPreps. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  17. "Max Fried – Player Profile". Perfect Game USA. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  18. Brock, Corey (June 5, 2012). "Padres take prep lefty Fried in draft". MLB.com. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  19. Acee, Kevin (June 4, 2012). "Too soon to know if Padres made correct choice". U-T San Diego. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  20. "Top pick Fried signs with Padres". ESPN. Associated Press. June 15, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  21. Bowman, Mark (December 21, 2015). "Fried excited to show Braves what he can do". MLB.com. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  22. "Max Fried Stats, Highlights, Bio". Milb.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  23. "Max Fried, lhp, Braves," Baseball America.
  24. Travis Sawchik (February 28, 2017). "Max Fried and the Braves' Risk Tolerance". Fangraphs. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  25. "Braves trade OF Justin Upton to Padres". Fox Sports. December 19, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  26. Hill, Jordan D. (July 20, 2016). "Rome Braves pitcher Max Fried thrives after Tommy John surgery". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  27. "Max Fried Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  28. "MLB.com 2017 Prospect Watch". MLB.com. May 24, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  29. Mark Bowman (November 18, 2016). "Braves add 3 prospects to 40-man roster; Atlanta protects lefty Fried, righty Sims, infielder Camargo from Rule 5 Draft". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  30. Bowman, Mark (February 19, 2017). "Fried awestruck attending first big league camp". MLB.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  31. Bowman, Mark (March 16, 2017). "Fried takes 'priceless' lessons to Minors". MLB.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  32. David O'Brien (March 17, 2017). "Max Fried optioned to Double-A, lefty made quite an impression". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  33. Guy Curtright (April 20, 2017). "Southern notes: Braves' Fried looking forward". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  34. Hudgison, Chris (August 5, 2017). "M-Braves pitcher Max Fried promoted to Atlanta". WLBT. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  35. Goff, Chris (July 8, 2018). "Notebook: TinCaps' Tatis in top-100 rankings". The Journal Gazette. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  36. Burns, Gabriel (August 5, 2017). "Max Fried thankful, overwhelmed at joining Braves". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  37. Thompson, Jaylon (August 5, 2017). "No. 10 prospect Fried called up, joins bullpen". MLB.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  38. Ricky Keeler (April 6, 2017). MLB "Rookie Profile: Max Fried, LHP, Atlanta Braves," Minor League Ball.
  39. "Phillies maintain stranglehold on Braves with 5–2 win". Reuters. August 8, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  40. David O'Brien (August 9, 2017). "Teheran drops 8th straight home decision, Phillies beat Braves again," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  41. Bowman, Mark (August 23, 2017). "Braves call up Minter, option Fried to Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  42. "Max Fried Stats," Baseball-Reference.com.
  43. Boor, William (October 28, 2017). "Braves prospects stay hot as Peoria rolls". Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  44. "Braves prospects Acuna, Fried are Players of the Week in AFL," Atlanta Journal Constitution.
  45. "Braves place four on Arizona Fall League top-prospects team"
  46. "Atlanta Braves prospects show dominance in AFL"
  47. "Arizona Fall League Hot Sheet (Nov. 20)," Baseball America.
  48. "Order the Braves’ 2018 starting rotation," Atlanta Journal Constitution.
  49. Grissett, Anna (April 12, 2018). "Roster Update – Fried promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett". MILB.com. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  50. Bowman, Mark (April 24, 2018). "Braves recall prospect Fried from Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  51. Max Fried Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
  52. Burns, Gabriel (April 23, 2019). "Max Fried becomes MLB's early ERA leader". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  53. Bowman, Max (April 5, 2019). "Max power: Baby Brave baffles Cubs". MLB.com. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  54. Jeff (April 17, 2019). "Max Fried is a Braves pitcher living up to billing — so that's one". The Athletic. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  55. Bowman, Mark (May 8, 2019). "Fried's hand injury overshadows tough loss". MLB.com. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  56. Burns, Gabriel (May 8, 2019). "Braves' Max Fried leaves early after getting hit in left hand". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  57. Gonzalez, Alden (May 8, 2019). "Braves' Fried takes liner off hand; X-rays clean". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  58. Bowman, Mark (May 8, 2019). "Fried (left hand) optimistic he'll make next start". MLB.com. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  59. Rill, Jake (May 9, 2019). "Fried throws side session, likely for next start". MLB.com. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  60. "Fried returns to lead Braves to 5–3 win over Diamondbacks". ESPN. Associated Press. May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  61. "Max Fried Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  62. "National League Leaderboards » 2019 » Pitchers » Dashboard | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  63. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Pitchers » Fielding Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  64. "National League Leaderboards » 2019 » Pitchers » Standard Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  65. Eric Sondheimer (July 23, 2010). "Max Fried picked a good example for his curveball". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
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