SAN DIEGO — The Atlanta Braves’ season ended on Wednesday night after the San Diego Padres swept them in the National League Wild Card Series.
The coaching staff and players will take some time to reflect on the season before the organization turns the focus to the offseason.
The front office once again has another tough free agent decision to make. World Series winner and All-Star pitcher Max Fried is expected to become a free agent.
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Following the departures of Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson in recent years, fans can’t help but wonder if Fried pitched his final game for Atlanta on Wednesday.
Channel 2 sports director Zach Klein asked Fried in the Braves locker room what it has meant to wear a Braves uniform.
“To me, it means everything. It’s the organization that traded for me and gave me an opportunity to come to the big leagues and be an established big league player. Everyone from my teammates here to the coaching staff, front office, organization, fans, city. Obviously don’t know what’s going to happen. But I have absolutely, you know, loved every moment of it and hope to have many more.”
Fried pitched only two innings in the Braves loss on Wednesday. A comebacker from Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. hit Fried in his left hip just two batters into the game.
Fried finished the night after he surrendered eight hits, five earned runs and two strikeouts.
“I think that when he got hit on the hip, as the inning wore on, it affected him, which, to no fault of his own, because when he started out, I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be pretty good here.’ I think the longer he was out there, the worse it got,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
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If this is it for Fried and the Braves, it’s been quite the journey for the former Padres first-round draft pick.
Atlanta acquired him as part of a six-player deal back in Dec. 2014. Three years later, he made his MLB debut on Aug. 8, 2017. The left-hander rose through the rotation with a nasty curveball and became a fixture for the Braves by 2019.
The defining moment of Fried’s career with the Braves came during the 2021 World Series run. Despite getting hit in the ankle early on, Fried pitched lights outs against the Houston Astros in Game 6 to clinch the World Series title.
For career accolades, Fried made the All-Star Game in 2022 and 2024 and won three Gold Glove Awards and a Silver Slugger.
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