SAN DIEGO – When Max Fried woke up on Saturday, he looked at his phone and saw two missed calls from Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Fried was surprised because he has known Anthopoulos to send a text message after one missed call.
But two missed calls?
“I was a little taken aback, (thinking), ‘Something seems to be urgent, should probably get up and give him a call back,” Fried said.
When he called Anthopoulos, Fried learned of the news: He was selected to the National League All-Star team as a replacement for Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez, who will not pitch in the game.
“I was definitely surprised,” Fried said. “Wasn’t really expecting it. It’s very exciting.”
This will be Fried’s second All-Star nod and first since 2022. He’ll join fellow Braves starting pitchers Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, along with designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
In 2022, Fried didn’t pitch in the All-Star Game because he opted for the extra rest during the break. Thus, Tuesday at Globe Life Field could be Fried’s first time throwing in the Midsummer Classic.
“It’s exciting,” Fried said. “I don’t know much information yet. It’s all still pretty fresh and pretty new. But to be able to have the opportunity to potentially pitch, it’s exciting. It’s a cool feat and I’m just excited and looking forward to the festivities.”
Fried, 30, owns a 3.08 ERA in 18 outings, which includes an MLB-best two complete games. He has a 95 strikeouts to 34 walks in 108 innings. Fried is on pace to set a career high in innings (185-1/3 in 2022), serving as one third of the Braves’ sensational starting trio that’s carried the club through much of the season.
This is the first time since 1997, and the fourth time overall, that the Braves have three All-Star starting pitchers. The other occurrence:
1993: John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery
1996: Smoltz, Glavine, Greg Maddux
1997: Maddux, Glavine, Denny Neagle
On Saturday, MLB announced that Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will replace Sale on the NL All-Star team. Sale is scheduled to start on Sunday in San Diego, which left him unavailable to pitch on Tuesday.
Still, three of five Braves starters were selected to the All-Star team. This is a wonderful accomplishment for those guys and the Braves. And all three have fed off one another as they’ve carried the Braves this season.
“Absolutely,” Fried said. “Especially when Reynaldo’s got a sub-2 and Chris is going out there doing what he’s doing every single time, it motivates you and pushes you to make sure that every time you get the opportunity to take the ball, that you give us a chance to win, you go deep into games. Fortunately, we’ve been able to do that pretty well. I know everyone’s really excited to kind of take this momentum and energy into the second half, too.”
Fried and López could both pitch in the game. On Saturday, López said Tuesday would line up to be the day for his between-starts bullpen session. Instead, he’ll be available to pitch for the NL All-Stars.
Fried is one of the more accomplished starters in Braves history. He’s posted a sub-3.00 ERA in three of the past four years. He pitched six scoreless innings in the Braves’ championship-clinching Game 6 victory over the Astros in the 2021 World Series. He’s the first Braves pitcher to earn multiple All-Star appearances with the club since Julio Teheran (2014, 2016).
Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, they’ve had five starters make multiple All-Star games: Phil Niekro (four times), Smoltz (six times, plus twice as a reliever), Glavine (eight times), Maddux (six times) and Teheran (twice). Reliever Craig Kimbrel also made four All-Star teams.
A bunch of Braves are going to spend some time on a lake during the All-Star break. Fried had planned to join them.
He made changes to those plans.
“Yes,” he said. “Very, very good changes.”
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