If the version we know and love shows up, then this should be a good night for the Braves at Wrigley.
It may not be Friday yet but the next best thing is here as it’s Max Fried Day for the Atlanta Braves. They’ll be looking to rebound from an extra-innings loss against the Chicago Cubs to open up this series.
This will be the first time Fried is facing the Cubs this season and this was after his only start against them in 2023 was a successful one. That was last August at Wrigley Field when Fried went six innings, struck out eight, gave up three hits and ended up with zero walks and zero runs allowed. Needless to say, if he delivered a repeat of that performance then a lot of people on this corner of the internet would be highly pleased with that result.
As far as 2024 is concerned, Fried has definitely been riding a bit of a rollercoaster. The valleys have been about as deep as you can get for a pitcher of his caliber but conversely, the peaks have been as high as you’d like to see from a pitcher of his caliber. Fried infamously began the season with a start where he couldn’t get out of the first inning and he’s also got one of the only five complete game shutouts that have been thrown in MLB this season, which is basically a perfect description of Fried’s season so far.
Simply put, I think we’ll all know right away whether or not Fried’s got it tonight. If he’s able to get comfortable then us fans should be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. If not, then we could be in for another stressful night of baseball viewing. I like to try to stay optimistic, though, so let’s say that we’re looking forward to the best pitcher in Atlanta’s rotation once again living up to that reputation.
Meanwhile, the Braves will have to deal with Justin Steele as Chicago’s starter for tonight. Steele has had a rough go of it so far this season, as suffering a hamstring injury on Opening Day certainly isn’t conducive to success in the early portion of any given season. Steele returned in early-May and had a very solid start against the Padres but since then, his past two starts have come against the Pirates and both occasions saw Pittsburgh tag him for a handful of runs — he gave up six in four innings in the first start and then ended up with five runs allowed (four earned) over 5.2 innings in his most recent start.
That was against a Pirates lineup that has not been good for most of this season so far and while the Braves may be scuffling at the plate, we all know that they’re certainly capable of going off at any given moment. For what it’s worth, the Braves scored three runs off of Steele over 5.1 innings when they saw him last season in September and that was after they scored four (three earned) against him in August over another 5.1 innings. Other than that, the current crop of Braves players don’t have a ton of experience against Steele but Matt Olson and Adam Duvall have both homered off of Steele in the past, so there’s that.
Basically, the offense has got to start clicking again. Atlanta’s pitching has essentially kept the team afloat during this rough patch and it’s also extremely enticing to imagine what this team will look like once they’re firing on all cylinders again. We don’t know when they’ll figure things out again — obviously we’re all hoping that it’ll start tonight, though. While Justin Steele is definitely a talented pitcher, he’s clearly in a vulnerable state at the moment. If Max Fried can deliver his expected performance then this seems like a prime opportunity for the Braves to get back in the ‘win’ column and potentially get rolling again. We just have to wait and see if things will play out in Atlanta’s favor tonight.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, May 22, 7:40 p.m. ET
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
TV: Bally Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan