Injury Return Timeline Coming into Focus For Atlanta Braves Ace

It's getting more and more clear as to when the Atlanta Braves will see Max Fried back on the mound.

The Atlanta Braves are getting a clearer picture of when ace Max Fried may return to the mound at the major league level.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Fried (forearm) will make his next rehab start with High-A Rome on Saturday, Jeff Schultz of The Athletic reports.

ANALYSIS
Fried's first rehab start was at Triple-A Gwinnett, but they're on the road this weekend so the lefty will stay closer to home for his second outing. He threw 35 pitches in his first rehab outing, so Fried should be able to get up to around 50 pitches Saturday. The southpaw is tracking toward a return later this month.

The Braves are already the best team in baseball at 60-29, so getting Fried back will make them even scarier as we push towards the playoffs, provided he's able to stay healthy. He's been on the injured list twice this year with the forearm problem, and a hamstring problem.

When he has pitched, Fried has been excellent. The 29-year-old is 2-1 through five starts with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He had only allowed one earned run in his first 20 innings but gave up five earned runs in six innings during his last start.

For his career, he's 56-26 with a 3.05 ERA. He helped the Braves win the World Series in 2021 when he won 14 games. He has double-digit win totals in each of the last three full seasons, and added a perfect 7-0 record during the shortened 2020 season.

The Braves will open up the second half of the season on Friday night when they take on the Chicago White Sox.

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