Fried (forearm) played catch on flat ground Thursday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
Fried is basically going to have to build up from scratch after being shut down for more than two weeks with a left forearm strain, though at least that process has now begun. The initial expectation was that Fried would miss a couple of months, but he might be ready to return sometime before the end of June if all goes well with this throwing progression. He landed on the injured list May 9, having logged a brilliant 2.08 ERA and 25:6 K:BB through 26 innings (five starts) to open the 2023 campaign.