Atlanta Braves 2017 Top 10 Prospects: Where Are They Now?
By Seth Carter
9. Max Fried
Max Fried is a former seventh overall draft pick out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, Calif. The Padres selected the California flame thrower with their first pick of the 2012 draft.
Just two and a half years later he was traded to the Braves with Dustin Peterson, Jace Peterson, and Mallex Smith in exchange for Aaron Northcraft and Justin Upton.
Max Fried was ranked as the 43rd ranked prospect heading into the 2014 season but suffered a setback in August of 2014 and went under the knife for Tommy John surgery.
The procedure didn’t deter the Braves from ensuring Fried was a part of the Upton trade. Their patience would pay off.
After missing the entirety of the 2015 season, Fried would go 8-7 with a 3.93 ERA in 20 starts for Rome the following year.
He received an invitation to spring training in 2017 and started the year in AA-Mississippi. Fried went 2-11 with a 5.92 ERA and walked 43 batters in 86.2 innings pitched for Mississippi.
No doubt, Max had a ton of talent but he was struggling with his command. The Braves believed in the talent despite the poor performance and called him up to make his Major League debut in August, skipping Triple-A altogether.
Fried again struggled with his command in 2018. In 66.1 Triple-A innings, he walked 4.1 hitters per nine. He was called up to pitch in 33.2 Major League innings and saw his walks per nine balloon to 5.3.
Last season he started 30 games for the Braves and appeared to have tamed his control issues. Fried struck out 173 hitters in 165.2 innings while walking 2.6 hitters per nine.
Fried is slated to open the season as one of the Braves’ top three pitchers and is a popular candidate to break out in 2020 as a top tier pitching talent.
He has a unique combination of striking out more than a batter per inning while inducing a ton of ground balls. Of pitchers who qualified for the ERA title last year (162 IP) Fried finished fifth in ground ball percentage with 53.6% of his batted balls hitting the ground.