ATLANTA -- Mark Melancon was lined up to cover at least a portion of the seventh inning if necessary. Chris Martin was going to work the eighth and Shane Greene was going to get a chance to earn a save during his first day within the Braves’ new upgraded bullpen.
But Mother Nature delayed the unveiling of this just-formed bullpen trio and provided Max Fried the satisfaction of being credited with his first career complete game in the rain-shortened 4-1, six-inning win the Braves claimed over the Reds on Thursday night at SunTrust Park.
“We got all that bullpen help, and we didn’t even need it,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman playfully said as he and his teammates prepared to leave the stadium after the game was called following a one-hour, 46-minute delay.
While Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos deserves praise for addressing his club’s most glaring weakness with the Trade Deadline acquisitions of Greene, Martin and Melancon, the starting rotation will still significantly influence the National League East race, which the Braves now lead by seven games.
“I think in any situation, if the starters are throwing most of the innings, we’re going to be doing OK,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “The bullpen thing is great. But you still need your starters to go deep and get to [the bullpen], where you can mix and match and not overuse them. I still think that starting pitching element is the most important thing that you’ve got going on, on a team.”
After not landing a frontline starter before Wednesday’s Trade Deadline, the Braves now must put their faith in their rotation depth. Julio Teheran might not be an ace, but he’s been effective while allowing two runs or fewer in 14 of his past 16 starts. Kevin Gausman impressed in one of the two starts he’s made since returning from the injured list and former staff ace Mike Foltynewicz is trying to get right at the Triple-A level.
But the most influential wild card of the rotation might be Fried, who still had plenty in the tank when rain halted play just as he prepared to take the mound for the seventh. The 25-year-old left-hander recorded a strike with 53 of the 76 pitches he threw while limiting the Reds to one run and four hits over six innings.
“I got back to trusting my location,” Fried said. “I focused on hitting spots, rather than muscling up on different pitches. I felt like I was pitching really well. All of my offspeed pitches were down. That was the main goal today.”
Freeman gave Fried an early lead when he snapped a 50 at-bat homerless streak with a three-run shot in the first. Adam Duvall padded that lead with a sixth-inning solo shot that added to the splendor of the comeback story he is constructing. Duvall has homered five times in the six games he’s played since returning to the big league level on Saturday.
But the tone of the evening was set by Fried, who showed his poise when he induced a double play groundout between the three singles surrendered in the second. The only other hit he surrendered was a Joey Votto sixth-inning double that immediately followed Nick Senzel getting picked off first base.
“[Fried] had everything moving,” Freeman said. “It would have been awesome to see how much more he would have gone or if he could have gone a complete game, a real complete game.”
As Fried commanded his fastball and consequently enhanced the value of the curveball he kept down in the zone, he produced his most complete effort of the past three months. He got off to a good start when he walked five percent of the batters he faced and limited opponents to a .662 OPS while producing a 2.96 ERA through his first 10 starts.
But elusive consistency plagued him when he produced an 8.5 percent walk rate and surrendered an .884 OPS while constructing a 5.64 ERA over the 10 starts that followed.
Over the regular season’s final two months, the Braves will monitor the workload for Fried, who has totaled 115 innings, which is three shy of his professional career-high total. A recent stint on the injured list because of a blister provided two weeks of rest. So, while logging just 21 1/3 innings since the start of July, he certainly hasn’t hindered his bid to be a potential difference-maker down the stretch.
If Fried builds upon this most recent start and Teheran continues to be a consistent asset, the Braves will learn the value of their new-look bullpen, which now features a closer who arrived in Atlanta with a strong understanding of his new team’s potential.
“I think we can win it all,” Greene said. “That’s why we’re here. I’d imagine the guys in this locker room are riding the wave and enjoying it. I’m looking forward to riding it with them.”