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Max Fried

Born: 01/18/1994 (Age: 23)
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 6' 4" Weight: 190
Mechanics
Body: Average build for height on the leaner side, average physicality. Full body delivery. Tommy John surgery in 2014.

Delivery: semi-windup, three-quarters slot, sidestep, waist-high leg left, stays closed; leans to glove side and is out-of-balance at footstrike from slight crossfire motion. Delivery begins slowly w/ pause before leg-lift and quick acceleration to release, falls off to glove-side. Effort in delivery; can lose timing (his acceleration fluctuates); when arm gets late, he falls off even harder to glove-side. Head remains still despite effort; repeatability will remain concern. Slow to plate but should hold runners reasonably w lefty delivery and timing variations from stretch.

Arm: Clean break, above-average arm speed, can be stiff on arm raise; when arm is late, the delivery could strain elbow.
Evaluator John Eshleman
Report Date 12/13/2017
Affiliate Peoria Chiefs (, Cardinals)
Dates Seen 11/2/2017
OFP 50
MLB ETA 2017
Video No
Pitch Type Future Grade Sitting Velocity Peak Velocity Report
FB 55 92-94 95 Plus velo from LHP, hard run with slight sinking action, can miss righty bats away. Control/command waivers due to delivery inconsistency, including FBs up. Pounds RH away, better arm-side command at present. Pitch velo and movement is plus, command limits ultimate ceiling of pitch.
CB 60 75-77   Varies shape from 12-6 to sharper 1-7. Breaks hard, bat-misser, can loose feel and back it up, but has confidence in pitch. Thrown in dirt as chase, backdoored, in zone for called strikes/weak contact. Out-pitch.
CH 45 82-85   Pitch has fade to move off barrel, not a major bat-misser. Pitch works best in pitcher's counts when FB is working too. Won't get to it much otherwise. It is good enough to expose fastball hunting RH and is passable based on quality of CB to get RH out.
Overall

Fried is largely a finished product and appeared in the majors late-2107. His delivery and arm action provide some pause given his prior arm injury, but Fried has starter's stuff with just enough command to keep in the backend of the rotation. When the fastball is on and located, it plays to plus, but Fried loses his spots too much for it to always play there. He needs to throw strikes with his fastball for his change-up to have a chance of keeping him in the rotation-- he will require pitcher's counts to use the pitch. The CB can be used in any count and will aid strikeout totals when the FB command is good enough to put Fried in 2-strike counts. Fried's ability to stick in the rotation hinges on fastball command, and I see just enough for the package to play in a rotation. Fried could rack up Ks as a FB/CB RP against both RH and LH hitters.

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