WASHINGTON — Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried was forced out of his Opening Day start prematurely Thursday due to what manager Brian Snitker called a strained hamstring.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Washington Nationals first baseman Domonic Smith hit a groundball to Braves first baseman Matt Olson, forcing Fried to cover the bag at first. After running over and recording the putout from Olson, the Braves lefty ace came up a little lame.
Here's how the play went down:
He was checked out by trainers before throwing just one warmup pitch where he shook his head to the trainer and Snitker. Fried was subsequently removed from the game. His final line on Opening Day was: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB and 2 K.
After the game, Snitker said that Fried would likely require a trip to the IL, but the team would not have to make that decision until his next turn in the rotation. He said Fried will definitely miss one start and then the team will go from there.
He attributed the injury to to long innings offensively and the cold weather, while adding that he felt it on the pitch and not while running to first base for the out. Snitker said it's an injury that is much preferred to happen earlier in the season versus later.
The Braves are already minus starters Kyle Wright and Michael Soroka to begin the season. Wright was placed on the 15-day injured list dealing with right shoulder inflammation. The latter, Soroka, was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett needing more time to stretch out and get going after he was slowed for the majority of spring training with a right hamstring injury.
The Braves beat the Nationals 7-2 Thursday to pick up their first win of the season and will play games two and three of the series on Saturday and Sunday.
