Fried (1-2) earned the win Saturday over 6.2 scoreless innings, striking out 11 while working around four hits and three walks against the Cardinals.
The Braves just keep churning young, talented starting pitchers into the back of their rotation. Taking Brandon McCarthy's (knee) turn, Fried delivered, despite some control issues, for his second career win. The 24-year-old southpaw sports a 2.55 ERA in six appearances (two starts) with Atlanta in 2018, also hiding a 9.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 beneath an unlucky 4.29 ERA (3.22 FIP) over nine outings for Triple-A Gwinnett. Remember, prospect growth is rarely linear, and Fried's spotty journey to the bigs has made many forget he was the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft. Though his performance won't always be this rosy, Fried has season-long potential to help in many mixed fantasy leagues should he hang onto a spot in Atlanta's quintet. He lines up for a road date with the Brewers on Thursday.