Both Spencer Strider and Max Fried are considered among the best ten pitchers in all of MLB
Because this is the slowest off season in recorded history for Major League Baseball, the league’s official network is trying to find things to talk about.
Putting out their “Top 10 Right Now” list for starting pitchers, MLB Network decided that not one but two members of the Atlanta Braves rotation deserved recognition as some of the best starters in all of baseball.
There was a lot of turnover in the list, with five new names amongst the top ten, including Spencer Strider.
Fried’s on the list for the 2nd consecutive season, coming in 7th last season and 9th this year.
The usually dominant Fried, who finished the 2022 season as the runner-up for the NL Cy Young to Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, was poised for a dominant season in 2024 before three separate injured list stints limited him to only 77.2 innings. He was still able, despite the missed time, to win eight games in only fourteen starts with a 2.55 ERA.
In his career, Fried’s put up a 3.03 ERA and a 62-26 record for Atlanta, pitching four complete games (including three shutouts). He has twice finished in the top-five in Cy Young voting, won the last NL Silver Slugger award to go to a pitcher in 2021, and had his streak of three consecutive Gold Glove awards broken in 2023.
Did MLB Network get it wrong? Does Atlanta’s dynamic duo deserve to be higher (or lower)? L
et us know!
