Max Fried takes the mound for the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the World Series looking to give Atlanta a 2-0 series lead.
The Braves bullpen could use a strong effort from Fried tonight after they were forced into action early in Game 1 due to a season-ending injury to Charlie Morton.
Between just 4 relievers (Minter, Jackson, Matzek, and Smith), the Braves bullpen covered 6.2 innings, and A.J. Minter's outing of 2.2 innings likely leaves him unavailable for Game 2 tonight.
Enter Max Fried, the Braves ace, who, by his standards, has been good but not great recently.
Fried is coming off his worst start since early July after allowing five runs, including two home runs, in a loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS. Fried threw just 4.2 innings in that 11-2 defeat, his lowest total since being unable to escape the 4th inning in a loss to the Nationals way back on June 1st.
In fact, Max Fried has been so strong, he'd thrown for 6 or more innings in every start dating back to July 23rd, including a pair of complete games in that span of 14 starts.
If Max Fried can re-find the form that saw the Braves go 12-3 in his last 15 starts, he could serve as his own bridge to the back-end of the bullpen and he could see the Braves to a 2-0 series lead.
