Braves: Max Fried’s Struggles Continue, Cristian Pache to the IL

It’s been a really rough start for some promising young players for the Atlanta Braves in starting pitcher Max Fried and Cristian Pache. 

Many were expecting Max Fried to be the ace of the Atlanta Braves pitching staff in 2021, but so far he’s been the worse starting pitcher on the team.

Granted, we’re still dealing with a small sample size, but Fried has an ERA of 11.45 through three starts allowing 14 earned runs on 23 hits and 5 walks over 11 innings with 14 strikeouts.

And Tuesday night was brutal as the Braves gave him a 3-run lead, but he allowed one of the worst offensive teams in baseball in the Marlins to score 8 runs (7 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks over just 4 innings with 3 strikeouts.

This seemed like the perfect game for Fried to get on track, but instead, he had maybe the worst outing of his career.

And on top of that, he felt some tightness in his hamstring running the bases following his fourth-inning double.

As of writing this, we don’t know the MRI results, but hopefully it’s nothing major.

If the Braves are going to have any chance of winning a World Series this season, they need Max Fried to be Max Fried.

Braves Center Fielder to the IL

Much like Fried, it’s been a very rough start to the season for top prospect Cristian Pache. He’s hitting an even .100 through 11 games with a -21 wRC+.

And really, the defensive metrics aren’t spectacular; although, those can be misleading, Pache has looked great defensively in center field.

But now the 22-year-old will be out for a while with a strained left groin. The Braves placed him on the 10-day IL so the earliest we could see him back would be April 24.

This could be a blessing in disguise for Pache who will have some time to sit back and think about what’s happened these first few weeks. He can watch some video to try and fix any mechanical flaws.

The early returns have not been good with a K% of 41.9 and a hard-hit rate of just 17 percent. He needs to work on making more contact and harder contact than he has the first two weeks.

I certainly believe he can get there, and maybe this time off will help him clear his head and come back rejuvenated.

But obviously, the most important thing is getting him healthy.

It’s been a rough stretch of games for the Braves and now they could be without two important players for a while, even though they’ve been struggling. Hopefully it’s nothing major for either of these two talented players and they’ll be back and better soon.