The Atlanta Braves lost two integral pieces to their ballclub Sunday as a season increasingly defined by major injuries took another grim turn.
Max Fried, the Atlanta Braves ace who is less than half a season from free agency, was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday with forearm neuritis, a potentially troubling development for a club ravaged by injuries. And in the ninth inning of the Braves’ 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, slugging second baseman Ozzie Albies fractured his left wrist attempting to apply a tag.
Fried, 30, told the Braves he felt some discomfort while warming up for his All-Star Game appearance on Tuesday, but it subsided and he proceeded to pitch a scoreless inning, manager Brian Snitker told reporters Sunday.
But when the pain returned Friday, Fried informed the team and underwent an MRI and other tests. The imaging, Snitker told reporters, revealed no tissue damage but did show nerve irritation.
Fried, who missed the 2015 minor league season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was sidelined more than two months in 2023 with a forearm strain. While the two forearm injuries do not necessarily portend doom, they can certainly be precursors to elbow ligament trouble.
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The Braves, six-time defending NL East champions, are hopeful Fried can return when his IL stint is complete, but that period of time will cover Major League Baseball’s July 30 trade deadline, leaving Atlanta potentially in position to work the market while uncertainty surrounds arguably their best pitcher.
Albies is estimated to miss eight weeks, putting his return sometime in mid-September for a club that’s still comfortably in wild card position yet now trails the first place Philadelphia Phillies by 8½ games.
Fried and Albies are the fourth and fifth former Brave All-Stars to suffer a significant injury this season, joining Spencer Strider (Tommy John surgery) and reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. (torn ACL). Still, the Braves have an enviable front end of the rotation, led by fellow All-Stars Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez. Minor leaguer Dylan Dodd was recalled to replace Fried on the active roster.
Fried posted a 3.08 ERA in 18 starts this season, ranking fifth in the National League, and his two complete games lead the league. He is one of just a few young players the Braves did not sign to a long-term contract, such as Acuña, Strider, center fielder Michael Harris Jr. and infielders Austin Riley and Albies.
He is expected to be one of the top free-agent pitchers available this winter.
‘It’s a little strange, because I still feel like in my core, I’m a young guy who’s still learning and trying to constantly master his craft,’ Fried told USA TODAY Sports last month. ‘And feel like I still have so much more to give.
“It’s a little weird to be at that point where you can look back, because you’ve had some experience. But also for me, I feel like I have so much more to look forward to, that it’s kind of a weird in between.”