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Ozzie Albies and Max Fried are on injured reserve

Gillberg
Ozzie Albies and Max Fried are on injured reserve

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The Atlanta Braves lost two key pieces of their club on Sunday as a season increasingly defined by serious injuries took another dark turn.

Max Fried, the Atlanta Braves ace who is less than half a season away from free agency, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with forearm neuritis, a potentially worrisome development for an injury-plagued club. And in the ninth inning of the Braves’ 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, second baseman Ozzie Albies fractured his left wrist trying to apply a tag.

Fried, 30, told the Braves he felt some discomfort while warming up for his All-Star appearance Tuesday but it subsided and he pitched a scoreless inning, manager Brian Snitker told reporters Sunday.

But when the pain returned Friday, Fried notified the team and underwent an MRI and other tests. The imaging, Snitker told reporters, revealed no tissue damage but did show nerve irritation.

Fried, who missed the 2015 minor league season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was sidelined for more than two months in 2023 with a forearm strain. While both forearm injuries aren’t necessarily bad news, they can certainly be precursors to elbow ligament problems.

The Braves, the six-time defending NL East champion, are hoping Fried can return once his stint on the injured list ends, but that span will cover Major League Baseball’s July 30 trade deadline, leaving Atlanta potentially in a position to work the market as uncertainty surrounds arguably their best pitcher.

Albies is expected to miss eight weeks, with his return scheduled for mid-September for a club that is still comfortably in wild-card position but is now 8½ games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

Fried and Albies are the fourth and fifth former Braves All-Stars to suffer a significant injury this season, joining Spencer Strider (Tommy John surgery) and reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. (torn ACL). Still, the Braves have an enviable front-row roster led by fellow All-Stars Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez. Minor leaguer Dylan Dodd was recalled to replace Fried on the active roster.

Fried has a 3.08 ERA in 18 starts this season, which ranks fifth in the National League, and his two complete games lead the league. He is one of the few young players the Braves haven’t signed to a long-term contract, along with Acuña, Strider, center fielder Michael Harris Jr. and infielders Austin Riley and Albies.

He should be one of the best free agent pitchers available this winter.

“It’s kind of weird because I still feel like deep down I’m a young guy who’s still learning and constantly trying to master his craft,” Fried told USA TODAY Sports last month. “And I feel like I still have a lot to give.”

“It’s a little strange to be at this point where you can look back, because you’ve already had a certain experience. But for me too, I feel like I still have a lot to look forward to, it’s a little weird to find yourself in the middle.”

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