Max Fried Looks to Continue Opening Day Preparations Against Pirates

The Atlanta Braves have seen all six rotation candidates take the ball this week

The Atlanta Braves are slowly marching towards Opening Day. 

And at least one member of the starting rotation is looking to get some more work in as he angles for his 4th consecutive start on Opening Day. 

Lefty Max Fried takes the ball today from North Port as the Braves welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to CoolToday Park. 

Here's how the Braves will line up for the contest: 

CF Michael Harris II
2B Ozzie Albies
C Sean Murphy
1B Marcell Ozuna
LF Jarred Kelenic
SS Orlando Arcia
DH Eli White
RF Forrest Wall
3B David Fletcher

Fried has made one appearance in Grapefruit League action, pitching two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and one walk against Baltimore on February 26th. He stayed behind to face Braves hitters, including Austin Riley and Matt Olson, on March 2nd when the team was on the road facing Toronto. 

And so Fried's slowly marching towards being ready for Opening Day as the presumable favorite for the start against Philadelphia, owing to his tenure over last year's strikeout leader, Spencer Strider. 

Closer Raisel Iglesias is among the pitchers scheduled to follow Fried, also making his second appearance of the spring.  

Which Braves Pitcher Gets the Opening Day Start, Max Fried or Spencer Strider?

Here's how the Pirates will line up for today's game:

SS Jared Triolo
RF Connor Joe
CF Edward Olivares
C Ali Sánchez
LF Gilberto Celestino
1B Billy McKinney
DH Canaan Smith-Njigba
3B Alika Williams
2B Sergio Alcántara

Starting for the Pirates in Marco Gonzalez, who was briefly a member of the Braves organization this offseason. He was traded to Atlanta, along with 1B Evan White, in the Jarred Kelenic deal with the Seattle Mariners before being sent to Philadelphia just days later. 

How to Watch the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, March 8th

Today's game, scheduled for a 1:05 PM ET first pitch, is being broadcast on MLB.com. Subscribers of MLB.tv can watch the video feed overlaid with audio from the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. Non-subscribers to MLB.tv can listen to the game on 680 AM/93.7 The Fan.