\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{ “__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”* **Hard hit rate allowed:** 32.7% (88th percentile in MLB)\n\nFreed’s allowed hard hit rate is a result of his exit pitch . Less than a third of the balls Fried allowed in the regular season were hit faster than 95 mph, Statcast’s hard contact standard. In the past four seasons dating back to 2020, he has ranked above his 82nd percentile of MLB pitchers in hard-hitting percentage. \n\n* **Barrel Rate Allowed:** 3.8% (95th percentile in MLB)\n \nThe worst type of contact a pitcher can tolerate is a barrel. This means the ball is hit with both optimal exit velocity and launch angle. The barrel is what turns into home runs and extra-base hits. 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He pitched six scoreless innings and showed overwhelming pitching, striking out eight batters.”,”displayAsVideoGif”: false,”duration”:”00:01:44″,”slug”:”max-fried- s-dominant-return”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”GameTag”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-144″,”title”:”Atlanta Braves”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:144″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-608331″,”title”:”Max Fried”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:608331″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”highlight-reel-starting-pitching”,”title”:”highlight reel starting pitching”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”pitching”,”title”:”pitching”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”in-game-highlight”,”title”:”in-game highlight”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”highlight”,”title”:”highlight”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”game-action-tracking”,”title”:”game action tracking”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”samsung-vod”,”title”:”Samsung VOD”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”eclat-feed”,”title”:”Eclat feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”international-feed”,”title”:”International Partner feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”fan-duel”,”title”:”Fan Duel”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”imagen-feed”,”title”:”Imagen feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”alexa”,”title”:”alexa”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatstructs}/mlb/honikgnfkgewqqtvdl93″},”title” :”Max Fried’s dominant return”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/max-fried-s-dominant-return”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”* **Grounder rate Induced:** 59.2% (97th percentile in MLB)\n\nThis is a big deal for Fried in 2023. He induced the highest ground ball rate of his career as a starting pitcher, plus a career-low 19.0% added line drive rate allowed.Of course, the fewer line drives a pitcher allows, the better.\n\nFried’s ground ball rate is second highest among starting pitchers, and he ranks second highest on that leaderboard with notable ground ball percentages. Surrounded by specialists in .\n\n**Highest ground ball rate in SP, 2023**\n\n1. Logan Webb: 62.7%\n2. **Max Fried: 59.2%**\n3 . Alex Cobb: 57.8%\n4 .Christopher Sanchez: 57.7%\n5. Marcus Stroman: 57.4%\n\nFreed’s changeup was thrown a career-high 16.5% of the time during the regular season, and he grounded out. He was particularly effective as a pitcher; more than two-thirds of the contact on his changeup remained on the ground. Fried’s new sweeper was also excellent at forcing ground balls in a few instances.\n Fried will need to bring everything he has against the Phillies team that beat him in the playoffs last year. But if he does, he could put the World Series championship favorites back in the driver’s seat. He’s the type of pitcher who can.\n\n\’There’s no secret, I think I’ve fought this Phillies team more than anyone on my team’ career,” Fried said. \”They know what I have. I know what they have. There are no secrets. Just stand on your toes and execute and throw the pitch you want. \””,”type”:”text”}],”contentType “:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”Ronald Acuña Jr. is MLB’s stolen base leader. Matt Olson leads MLB in home runs. Spencer Strider had the most strikeouts in the majors. The Braves led MLB in wins. What more can Atlanta add to the behemoth they’ve created?\nOh yeah, a World Series-winning ace. \nMax He Freed is back. and “,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})” :null,”tag”:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”david-adler”,”title”:”David Adler”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”player-tracking”,”title”:”Statcast”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-608331″,”title”:”Max Fried”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:608331″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-144″,”title”:”Atlanta Braves”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:144″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”nlds”,”title”:”NLDS”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”series-a”,”title”:”Series A”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatstructs}/mlb/fu6mbom8ae5o0itwwlds”,”title”:”Max Fried Big World Series favorite by Braves”}},”Team:144″:{“__typename”:”Team”,”id”:144},”Person:608331″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id “:608331 }}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”en “} window .appId = ” /*–>*/
5:59 PM (UTC)
Ronald Acuña Jr. became MLB’s stolen base leader. Matt Olson leads MLB in home runs. Spencer Strider had the most strikeouts in the majors. The Braves led MLB in wins. What more can Atlanta add to the behemoth it has created?
Yes, the World Series winning ace.
Max Fried came back and was great all the way through. He just got buried under a pile of Braves 2023 star power.
Assuming Fried can overcome his finger blister issues and face Phillies ace Zack Wheeler in Game 2 of the National League District Series, he could be an X-factor for Atlanta this postseason. There is, or at least a chance to be a stopper for the Braves after losing Game 1 at home.
Fried, who clinched the Braves’ 2021 championship with a jewel-like shutout against the Astros, has a fresh arm and has been in good shape in the playoffs since returning to the Braves’ rotation in August.
“I feel really good. I feel like I’m strong,” Fried said at a press conference before Saturday’s season opener. “Obviously, we haven’t had a lot of innings this year, so I’m just excited to get back out there and give it everything and go and compete with his guys.”
Fried started nine games over the final two months of the regular season, posting a 6-0 record with a 2.79 ERA and 55 strikeouts. Although he hasn’t published co-ace Strider’s out-of-this-world strikeout numbers, Fried is a master at inducing poor contact.
Fried’s quality of contact, combined with his excellent strikeout and walk rates (25.7% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate), resulted in an expected ERA of 2.75, according to Statcast. This was the lowest of any starting pitcher in the National League.
Lowest expected ERA, National League SP, 2023
- Max Fried: 2.75
- Brandon Woodruff: 2.86
- Spencer Strider: 3.04
- Joe Musgrove: 3.16
- Zack Wheeler: 3.21
Fried’s strikeout numbers are still pretty good. In fact, it was better than usual — he struck out batters per inning for the first time since his 2019 season. But his real strength is he 1) he doesn’t give up hard contact, and 2) he doesn’t give up air contact. Therefore, opponents cannot damage him.
Let’s break down Fried’s four standout numbers.
- Permissible average exit velocity: 86.5 mph (91st percentile in MLB)
Fried had the fourth-lowest exit velocity among starting pitchers this year. In front of him were only soft-contact maestro Kyle Hendricks and aces Shohei Ohtani and Corbin Burns.
Fried has ranked in the top 10% of pitchers leaguewide in allowed exit velocity for four straight seasons. He is not an easy pitcher to make contact to begin with, but he is admirably consistent at inducing soft contact when batters put the ball in play.
- Hard hit rate allowed: 32.7% (MLB 88th percentile)
Fried’s strong batting rate is allowed as a result of his exit pitch. Less than a third of the balls Fried allowed in the regular season were hit faster than 95 mph, Statcast’s hard contact standard. Over the past four seasons dating back to 2020, he has ranked at or above the 82nd percentile of MLB pitchers in hard-hitting percentage.
- Allowed barrel rates: 3.8% (95th percentile of MLB)
The worst type of contact a pitcher can tolerate is the barrel. Barreling means the ball is hit with both optimal exit velocity and launch angle. The barrel is what turns into home runs and extra-base hits. Fried is best at preventing batters from barreling the ball.
In fact, he was of He was the best at stopping barrels among starting pitchers this season, allowing just eight barrels on 211 total batted balls. And since Fried became a full-time starter in 2019, this is the fourth season in which he has pitched at or above the 92nd percentile in Major League Baseball barrel rate.
Minimum allowable barrel rate SP, 2023
- Max Fried: 3.8%
- Tarik Skubal: 4.2%
- Steven Matz: 4.7%
- Marcus Stroman: 5.0%
- Zack Wheeler / Joe Musgrove / Jose Quintana: 5.1%
- Induced ground ball rate: 59.2% (97th percentile in MLB)
This is a big event for Freed in 2023. He yielded the highest ground ball rate of his career as a starting pitcher. On top of that, his line drive rate allowed is a career low of 19.0%, so of course the fewer line drives a pitcher allows, the better.
Fried has the second-highest ground ball rate among starting pitchers, and there are notable ground ball specialists around him on that leaderboard.
SP with the highest ground ball rate, 2023
- Logan Webb: 62.7%
- Max Fried: 59.2%
- Alex Cobb: 57.8%
- Christopher Sanchez: 57.7%
- Marcus Stroman: 57.4%
Fried’s changeup, which he threw a career-high 16.5 percent of the time during the regular season, was especially effective as a grounder. More than two-thirds of the contact on his changeup stayed on the ground. Fried’s new sweeper was also good at forcing ground balls in a small sample.
Fried will need to bring everything in his arsenal against a Phillies team that beat him in last year’s playoffs. But if that happens, he’s the type of pitcher who could put a World Series championship contender back in the driver’s seat.
“There’s no secret, I think I’ve played against this Phillies team more than anyone else in my career,” Fried said. “They know what I have. I know what they have. There are no secrets. Just put my toe in the rubber and execute the pitches I need.” Just do it and throw it.”