The Braves used lefty Max Fried in relief a few times last season including the playoffs, but he should be a full-time starting pitcher this season. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Fried’s 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Max Fried MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- Most wins of any pitcher: Fried is +2500
- NL Cy Young Award: Fried is a +5000 long shot to win his first Cy Young
Few pitchers can match Fried’s stuff but he can be a bit wild at times. Fried is a free-and-easy mid-90s with his fastball, and he dials it up to the high 90s to rise to the moment. Plus, the slider he added last year makes a big difference keeping hitters off his curve.
Fried recently turned 26, and although it’s been nearly eight years since San Diego took him with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft and more than five years since Atlanta acquired him, he has just 225 1/3 MLB innings under his belt. To this point in his young career, he has a 3.83 ERA and an FIP that’s an exact match.
Overall in 2019, he finished 17-6 with a 4.02 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 16 5.2 innings but also 47 walks and 21 homers allowed.
Fried’s 17 wins were the most in the N.L. by a left-hander, and the second most in the majors. Boston’s Eduardo Rodríguez won 19 games. Fried won the most games by an Atlanta southpaw since Hall-of-Famer Tom Glavine won 18 games in 2002. No Atlanta pitcher had won 17 games since Tim Hudson in 2010.
Fried at one point had a seven-game winning streak last year that started July 15 at Milwaukee and ended on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. He went 7-0 with a 3.02 ERA (17 ER/50.2 IP) during the run, with wins over Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Minnesota, the Mets, the White Sox and Washington.
The stretch spanned nine total starts, and Atlanta won all nine. Atlanta had not won more consecutive starts by a left-hander since 1993, when the Braves won 13 straight games started by Steve Avery. In another oddity, Fried became just the second Atlanta pitcher to beat both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox in a single season. Hudson earned victories over both Chicago clubs in 2013.
Fried missed nine games with a blister on his left index finger, July 16-July 27. It was his second career stint on the Braves’ injured list due to a blister. He missed from July 6 to July 29 of the 2018 season with a blister on his left third finger.
Last year, Max Fried appeared in 20 games before the All-Star break, and set full-season career highs in wins (9), games (20), starts (18), innings (98.2) and strikeouts (97). He 9-4 with a 4.29 ERA (47 ER/98.2 IP) before the break. His nine wins were the most by a Braves lefty before the All-Star break since 2013, when both Paul Maholm and Mike Minor had nine. No Braves left-hander has won more since Tom Glavine had 11 wins at the break in 2002. Fried’s nine wins were second most by a left-hander in the National League. Only the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu won more (10 wins).
Yet, the team kept him in the bullpen in the NLDS loss to the Cardinals.
Fried’s final start this spring before MLB shut down was against the Twins in Grapefruit League play when the southpaw worked around five walks over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Fried issued nine walks in 7 2/3 innings this spring, which was a bit of a concern. Control was always a problem for him in the minors, and he walked 54 in 111 1/3 innings between the majors and minors in 2018.
