Can the Braves Survive Another Injury to their Pitching Rotation With Max Fried Out?

The Atlanta Braves have dominated the NL East for the past six seasons. This season they’ve jumped out to a 7 ½ game lead in the NL East, but the team’s injuries to its bullpen are starting to pile up.

On Tuesday, it was announced that pitcher Max Fried was put on the IL. He suffered a forearm strain expected to keep him out for a couple of months.

"Now it's just about letting the muscle heal and rest," Fried told reporters on Tuesday.

Fried had Tommy John surgery in 2014 while still in the minor leagues.

Since then, he hasn’t had any elbow or forearm injuries. This forearm strain that he suffered early in the week could be linked to his Tommy John surgery while in the minor leagues.

Fried, 29, is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in five starts this season. Last year he finished second in voting for the NL Cy Young award after posting a 2.48 ERA.

This is a massive blow to the Braves because they’ve had a plethora of pitchers get hurt this season. 

Braves pitcher Kyle Wright left the team's game against the Marlins with right shoulder soreness. Wright told reporters at MLB.com that he thinks he'll be out longer than Fried.

His shoulder injury has been bothering him for months. His injury timeline is at least two months, according to CBS Sports.

Wright, 27,  has started five games for the Braves this season. He’s thrown 20 strikeouts with a 5.79 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. He’s the only Braves starter with over four starts with a negative WAR (-0.3).

Braves pitcher Ian Anderson, 24, underwent Tommy John Surgery in April. Anderson was trying to make a comeback to the majors after having a rough stretch last season.

The Braves starting rotation with all these injuries will be limited to Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder, Dylan Dodd, Jared Shuster, and Michael Soroka.

The Braves will lean on the young studs Strider and Elder to help them get through this rough patch.

Atlanta Braves 2023 World Series Odds

The Braves have the best odds to win the World Series at +500, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Atlanta is currently -470 to win the NL East.

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