One of the biggest questions entering the 2022 CBA negotiations is the addition of the DH in the National League. Don’t tell that to Max Fried.
Max Fried loves August.
August 2021: 4-0, 33.0 IP, 5 ER, 2 BB, 28 K, 0.818 WHIP, 1.36 ERA, .208 BA
August Career: 13-0, 109.1 IP, 27 ER, 28 BB, 109 K, 1.12 WHIP, 2.22 ERA, .234 BA
Oh, and he's hitting .444/.444/.556/1.000 this August.
— SportsTalkATL Jake (@cantguardjake) August 28, 2021
On the season, Fried has been absolutely mashing, and they aren’t cheap hits either. Yes, a .325 batting average is incredible for a pitcher, but I’m even more impressed by his .772 OPS, which is almost .100 points higher than Francisco Lindor‘s.
Obviously, the sample sizes aren’t the same, but anyone who has watched the Braves knows that Fried is a threat at the plate. He has smacked three doubles and driven in five runs. He’s even walked three times. If it wasn’t for that Shohei Ohtani guy, you could argue that Fried is the best hitting pitcher in all of baseball.
I hinted at the topic earlier, but if the National League decides to go with the DH starting in 2022, pitchers won’t be taking at-bats anymore. That means that we won’t have a Silver Slugger award, as currently, only National League pitchers receive the award. Maybe something will change with that (likely because of Ohtani), but there’s a real possibility that Max Fried wins the final one ever given to a pitcher.
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