Max Fried, one of the top free agents in this year’s class, signed a massive eight-year, $218 million contract with the New York Yankees. Fried spent the first eight years of his career with the Atlanta Braves.
Fried became a top pitcher since transitioning to a full-time starter in 2019. He’s battled injuries throughout his career, but he’s a two-time All-Star and finished top five in the National League Cy Young voting twice, including a second-place finish in 2022.
The left-hander has had tremendous success when he takes the mound, but the Philadelphia Phillies should be sad to see Fried leave the Braves and the NL East.
Phillies should be devasted to see Max Fried abandon the Braves
Fried put together another solid season in 2024. The former seventh overall pick had an 11-10 record with a 3.25 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 174 1/3 innings pitched. He pitched two complete games, including a complete game shutout and held opposing batters to a .226 average.
Why would the Phillies be sad to see a dominant pitcher like Fried leave their division? The southpaw hasn’t been able to have the same success against his former divisional foes.
Fried has a 4-6 career record against the Phillies with a 4.04 ERA in 23 appearances. He started four games against the Phillies in 2024 and had a 0-2 record with 22 hits allowed, 13 earned runs and nine walks in 20 2/3 innings pitched. He hasn’t won a game against the Phillies since 2021.
The Phillies’ success against Fried wasn’t only in the regular season. Fried was 0-1 against the Phillies in two postseason starts and allowed 14 hits, seven earned runs and five walks with only five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings pitched.
Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos will be especially sad to see Fried no longer in a Braves uniform. Each of them has a career batting average of .300 or higher against Fried, and Castellanos has a career .478 average with only three strikeouts. Realmuto and Turner each have four home runs against the 30-year-old.
The NL East is a tough division. The Phillies, Braves and New York Mets, who recently acquired superstar outfielder Juan Soto, are all World Series contenders. Even though the Phillies had success against Fried, it’s a good thing a player of his caliber is out of the division.