Max Fried hadn’t but established himself once I first talked to him for FanGraphs in April 2018. Whereas extremely regarded — the San Diego Padres had drafted the southpaw seventh general in 2012 out of Los Angeles’ Harvard-Westlake Excessive Faculty — he had only a smattering of innings below his large league belt. Quick ahead to in the present day, and Fried — acquired by the Atlanta Braves in a December 2014 commerce the Padres presumably want they hadn’t made — is among the greatest pitchers in baseball. Furthermore, he has been for the reason that begin of the 2019 season. With the caveat that pitcher win-loss data must be taken with a big grain of salt, the 30-year-old hurler has gone 66-23 over the past five-plus seasons; his .742 profitable share ranks first amongst his contemporaries (min. 50 choices). Fried’s ERA and FIP over that span are 3.00 and three.20, respectively, and within the present marketing campaign these numbers are 2.93 and three.22.
His hitting additionally bears point out. In 2021, the final yr earlier than the Nationwide League adopted the DH, Fried had the best batting common (.273), on-base share (.322), wRC+ (77), and wOBA (.289) amongst pitchers with 40 or extra plate appearances. Whereas not precisely Wes Ferrell, Fried might greater than maintain his personal within the batter’s field.
How has the Atlanta ace advanced as a pitcher since we spoke six years in the past, and does he miss stepping as much as the plate with a bit of lumber in hand? I broached these matters with Fried on Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park.
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David Laurila: You have been comparatively new to the massive leagues once we first spoke. Outdoors of being older and extra skilled, what has modified since that point?
Max Fried: “Truthfully, I might say it’s simply expertise, simply continuously evolving and taking from what I’ve realized through the years. Numerous it has been commanding my pitches higher, throwing them for strikes and conserving guys off steadiness.”
Laurila: Baseball Savant has you throwing seven completely different pitches. Is that correct?
Fried: “I might say it’s variations of pitches. Numerous the time I’ll throw a pitch and it will get misclassified — a sure pitch will likely be referred to as one thing else. I’m nonetheless the identical pitcher — I’m fastball, slider, curveball, changeup, sinker — however typically the slider will get slightly bit cutter-y and typically it will get slightly bit sweeper-y. That’s sort of been the case my complete profession. My slider has been wherever from 90 to 78 [mph]. It has sort of at all times fluctuated, they usually determined to categorise these three as completely different pitches.
“It’s case by case. Typically I need one thing slightly bit more durable and typically I need one thing slightly bit greater. I’m enjoying round with it. Of all my pitches, the slider is the one with probably the most variability.”
Laurila: In a nutshell, outdoors of manipulating your slider you’re primarily the identical pitcher now as earlier than…
Fried: “I feel I’ve at all times been the sort of pitcher, I simply hadn’t found out what works for me. I’ve at all times been a man that’s performed round with my velocity — the rate on my fastball, on my curveball, with all of my pitches. It fluctuates based mostly off of making an attempt to maintain hitters off steadiness. Greater than something, it’s embracing that, embracing the character of who I’m. So, I’m sort of evolving, however at my core I’ve sort of at all times been this man.”
Laurila: With that in thoughts, to what extent are you pitching to your strengths versus attacking weaknesses?
Fried: “I’m simply pitching to what the sport tells me in the intervening time. Numerous occasions it’s trusting what my catchers have. There’s a lot info now, however on the identical time, for me it’s extra about feeling out what’s occurring within the sport, in addition to how I’m feeling.”
Laurila: With info in thoughts, Spencer Strider is, for lack of a greater time period, a pitching nerd. How do the 2 of you evaluate in that respect?
Fried: “I might say that he… Spencer has a extremely good understanding of the analytics, and he makes use of that to his benefit. And he’s clearly obtained insane, stand-off-the-page metrics, whereas I don’t essentially have metrics that may stand out to you. What I do have is loads of completely different pitches that transfer loads of alternative ways. I attempt to use that to my benefit.”
Laurila: Sequencing is presumably fairly necessary to you…
Fried: “Sequencing. Pitch actions. Pitch speeds. Numerous it’s simply with the ability to
give the hitter completely different appears.”
Laurila: Any ultimate ideas on pitching?
Fried: “I feel that pitching is completely different and distinctive to every particular person. On the finish of the day — at the very least to me — pitching is about conserving the hitter off steadiness sufficient to have the ability to get him out as rapidly as attainable. When you’re capable of preserve guys off steadiness, and preserve them off the barrel, then you definately’re going to have extra success. You’re going to have the ability to go deeper into video games. That’s the character of what I attempt to embrace.”
Laurila: Altering path, [Atlanta catching coach] Sal Fasano advised that I ask you about hitting. How a lot do you miss hitting?
Fried: “I miss it a ton. It’s one of many components of the sport that… I perceive why it occurred, however for me, selfishly, I miss it as a result of it offers you a superb perspective on how exhausting hitting is. What you’re capable of hit, what you’re not capable of hit, what the within pitch appears like, what the surface pitch appears like. Having that perspective of standing within the field and understanding what a pitcher is doing to you, in the identical sport that you just’re pitching, offers you that perspective. Typically you’re on the market on the mound throwing the proper pitch and it’s getting hit, so yeah, the angle on how exhausting it’s to truly hit.”
Laurila: The pitching facet apart, how a lot did you truly take pleasure in hitting?
Fried: “I grew up hitting greater than I pitched. My complete life, I might play the outfield, first base, and hit. Then I might be pitching. The core of who I used to be as a baseball participant was being a place participant, after which I might be pitching as effectively.”
Laurila: Was there curiosity in you as a place participant throughout the scouting course of?
Fried: “There have been groups thinking about me as a hitter, however I feel that with me being left-handed and projectable, throwing exhausting — there wasn’t a Shohei Ohtani on the market sort of paving the way in which for me as a two-way. At the moment it was simply, ‘You’ve gotten a greater probability, and extra alternative, to get to the massive leagues faster as a pitcher.’”
Laurila: You didn’t get to hit a lot within the minors, however once you did — the identical was true within the majors — you didn’t get overmatched. You held your personal.
Fried: “I took satisfaction in it. Clearly, it’s exhausting to hit as soon as each 5 days, however
I attempted to benefit from it. My job within the 9 gap, particularly once I was hitting in entrance of Ronald [Acuña Jr.], was to hopefully get on base for him to hit a double or a house run to drive me in and add some cushion.”
Laurila: Place gamers usually embrace taking the mound when the circumstances name for it. Would you relish a possibility to do the other, to stroll as much as the plate with a bat in your arms?
Fried: “I’m at all times trying, each sport, to see. I obtained some pinch-hit alternatives in 2021, so if we ever have a uncommon sport the place we use each man on the bench, I’ll be the primary one going over to [bench coach] Walt [Weiss] to see if he wants me to get my spikes on and loosen up. I haven’t taken BP in awhile, but when I get the chance I’ll be prepared.”