Takeaways from Max Fried and Atlanta Braves’ 8-1 win over the Giants

Saturday:  The Atlanta Braves stay hot after clinching the NL East behind Max Fried and another offensive onslaught

The Atlanta Braves rotation is making it tough for manager Brian Snitker to choose who gets a start in the NLDS and Max Fried strengthen his case on Saturday night in a 5 1/3 innings of sharp pitching.

He allowed five hits but kept it a scoreless outing while striking out two.

The day after clinching the NL East and celebrating, the Braves did not let off the gas and continued to run over the Giants in the 8-1 win.

Snitker mixed it up a bit and gave a few of the regular starters a day off excluding Ronald Acuna Jr, Dansby Swanson and Josh Donaldson who moved into the third hole in the lineup.

It was, instead, a day for the bench squad with Adam Duvall, Adeiny Hechavarria, Francisco Cervelli, Billy Hamilton and Austin Riley getting starts and they overall came up big.

The Giants on-the-other-hand were mostly quieted by the Braves and didn’t score their lone run until the seventh when Cristhian Adames singled to left to score Kevin Pillar. The run came off Kyle Wright.

The Bench Bats Showed Up

Now that the division is theirs, Brian Snitker and the Braves can relax a bit, which means more starters getting rests and Snitker holding tryouts to see who makes the playoff roster. However, just like the rotation is, the bench is making it tough for him.

The Braves won big on Saturday and all the runs came from the bench guys. Acuna, Donaldson and Swanson drew walks throughout the game but it was two-run home runs from Cervelli and Duvall as well as hits from Hamilton and Hechavarria that got the Braves the lead.

Cervelli knocked his in the fifth inning while Duvall launched his in the seventh.

Right now the current bench consists of those five plus Rafael Ortega, Matt Joyce and the other two Braves catchers, Brian McCann and Tyler Flowers.

The main questions regarding the bench is if the Braves will carry a third catcher into the NLDS, if they rather have more relievers over bats and how that will affect how many bench bats they’ll have available and if they prefer more home run potential or more consistent clutch hitting.

Max Fried’s Case

The Braves’ rotation currently consists of Max Fried, Mike Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz, Dallas Keuchel and Julio Teheran.

All of them have had some form of success this season, some later than others. One name that was a bit questionable earlier in the year was Foltynewicz but since returning from AAA, he’s returned to his 2018 form and prefect timing.

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Prior to it, most would assumed he would not get a rotation spot, but now, especially after his performance during the clincher on Friday, Snitker definitely has to at least consider giving him one.

Max Fried was probably watching and was like, “Hold up, hold my beer,” because he returned to form Saturday night with his outing.

He, along with Mike Soroka has had some struggles in August and September, possibly from long season fatigue for the young starters.

However, Fried turned it around with the five+ innings of work adding to his overall stats for home starts which is a 8-3 record at SunTrust Park with a 3.21 ERA.

So it makes sense if Snitker gives him one of the starts for the NLDS. Fried sits on a 4.11 ERA and ties at first with 17 wins.

If Mike Soroka does indeed prefer to start on the road, then they have to consider Fried as one of the starters for the first two home games.

The Braves will try to sweep the Giants on Sunday behind Dallas Keuchel at 1:20 pm.