Braves All-Star Max Fried was placed on the injured list with left forearm neuritis, the team announced Sunday morning. As a corresponding move, lefty Dylan Dodd was called up from the minors. Fried acknowledged he felt some discomfort while warming up to pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, but pitched anyway. He walked a batter and threw 10 pitches in his inning.
“Before the All Star Game I was warming up like I normally do and doing some arm circles. Felt something and didn’t think much of it. In this game, you feel things all the time. Normally they go away. Didn’t feel like I was in any jeopardy of really hurting myself,” Fried revealed Sunday (via 680 The Fan). “Took the day off after the game to travel home. Came in, played catch and still was feeling it. At that point, knew I probably should say something if I wasn’t going to be able to make my start. Got tests done, everything structurally looks great. Just irritated a sensory nerve, not one of the major muscle functioning nerves. Just going to let it calm down and hopefully be back soon.”
We don’t often hear about forearm neuritis, as it is a nerve issue instead of damage to any ligaments or muscles. It occurs when the ulnar nerve — running down the arm to the pinky — gets irritated or even compressed, causing things like numbness, tingling, pain and can lead to a weakened grip.
Fried, 30, is 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 95 strikeouts against 34 walks in 108 innings this season. After finishing as the Cy Young runner up in 2022, Fried has had two injury-riddled seasons and is set to hit free agency after this season.
Because the Fried news was not bad enough for the Braves, second baseman Ozzie Albies is heading to the injured list after suffering a left hand/wrist injury trying to apply a tag in the ninth inning of Sunday’s loss (STL 6, ATL 2). Here’s the play:
After the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker acknowledged Albies will go on the IL and added “it’s not good” (via 680 The Fan). Albies missed 10 days with a toe fracture in April and entered play Sunday with a .255/.308/.403 line and eight home runs in 89 games.
The Braves hold the top Wild Card in the National League with a 54-44 record, but have not had the regular-season success they enjoyed in 2022 and 2023. They’ve had injuries to big-time players, with 2023 MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. tearing his ACL and 2024 NL Cy Young favorite Spencer Strider having to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Fried was one of the players who would be expected to pick up the slack with a pitcher like Strider on the shelf. In his stead, the Braves will continue to lean on Chris Sale and Reynaldo López — who have been up to the task — but they’ll need quality work from the likes of Dodd, Charlie Morton and Spencer Schwellenbach.
