The Atlanta Braves, who are already without rotation pieces in Mike Soroka, Felix Hernandez, and Cole Hamels, lost yet another member of their depleted starting pitching corps on Tuesday after ace Max Fried was sent to the injured list with muscle spasms in his lumbar spine.
Fried, who at 6-0 with a 1.98 ERA has been one of baseball’s top starters this season, exited early in his last start over the weekend and was finally placed on the injured list yesterday. After feeling back discomfort, Atlanta decided that it would be best for their rotation’s most important member to rest up and fully recover before taking the mound again.
This does, however, put Atlanta in a critical situation as none of the current starting pitchers at their disposal have impressed so far in the Big Leagues. Josh Tomlin, Robbie Erlin, and Tommy Milone have been called upon to patch up the rotation along with rookies Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright, but none have had much success this year.
Atlanta is currently 24-18 and finds themselves in first place in the NL East and a good bet to make the playoffs. However, they must hope that Fried and potentially Cole Hamels return if they want to have any faith in their rotation heading into the playoffs.
Fried is expected to return at some point next week, assuming he doesn’t suffer any setbacks.
