The Braves will be out two of their top starters for a substantial period.
Yesterday, Max Fried was added to the 15-day IL with a forearm strain. The good news is an MRI showed no damage to his UCL, which means he likely won’t have to undergo Tommy John surgery. The worst case scenario was avoided, but it will still be a while before Fried returns.
Forearm strains are nothing to mess with, and the Braves are going to shut down their ace completely until he is 100%. At that time, he will begin ramping up his activities again before completing a few rehab starts in the minors prior to returning.
If I had to guess, Max Fried will be out for at least a couple of months, but Kyle Wright will likely be out for even longer. He told the media prior to Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox that he likely will return to the mound after Fried.
Kyle Wright said he will probably be sidelined longer than fellow #Braves starter Max Fried, because the shoulder strain was a repeat for Wright. So the #Braves and medical staff will be cautious and let it heal fully before he resumes throwing, to avoid more issues and surgery.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 10, 2023
This isn’t necessarily a shocking development. Wright was rehabbing his shoulder all offseason. So much so that he missed Spring Training and began the season on the IL. The fact that he re-aggravated it so quickly is discouraging, and the Braves don’t really have much of a choice but to shut him down for a while if they want him healthy later in the season.
It’s not great news for two of the best starters in the National League, but Braves fans can take some solace in the fact that it appears catastrophe has been avoided. Both players expect to return in 2023, and this team has shown they can win in many ways. They have a true “next man up” mentality, and it doesn’t hurt that Atlanta has burst out of the gate to an eight-game lead in the division. I expect the Braves to be just fine without Fried and Wright, but they will need both of them if they want to win in October.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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