Bad news for Atlanta Braves fans as Brian Snitker indicated that Max Fried‘s status for his next start is uncertain. Fried completed six innings in his last start and allowed a season-high five earned runs.

Fried still carries a stellar 2.06 ERA on the season.

Max Fried “Uncertain” for Next Start

The Braves seem to be waiting things out with Fried. We hope it’s just a blister or something minor that limits how much time Max will miss. Hopefully, we find out today that the uncertainty has been cleared up and he will make his next start!

Who Will Braves Turn to if Max Fried Misses Significant Time?

Should Max Fried hit the IL for an extended period of time then not only will my fantasy season be in jeapardy, but the Braves will have to plug the biggest hole in the rotation yet. This comes at a bad time with Kyle Wright heading back to the IL.

Here are a few names the Braves could turn to, in no particular order.

Potential Max Fried Replacement: Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster

Dylan Dodd is a prime candidate to make a few spot starts to replace Max Fried. Dodd made three trips through the rotation to start the season, with two solid outings and one clunker against the Padres. Dodd is a viable short-term replacement and has already proven useful when needed to make a spot start.

Dodd is already a part of the rotation as we await Kyle Wright’s return from his second IL stint this season. Should he continue performing he would be the favorite to hold down another vacancy. However, the Braves need reliability in the rotation so they won’t have much patience for a rookie to develop in the midst of a pennant chase.

We may see top prospect Jared Shuster earn another opportunity if the Braves deem Soroka to be unready for his major-league return. Shuster has a 2.37 ERA over four Triple-A starts this year.

Potential Max Fried Replacement: Michal Soroka

If Michael Soroka is ready to return to the big leagues, then this one makes the most sense. Soroka’s phenomenal 2019 rookie campaign established him as the staff ace after just one season. However, we all know about the Achilles injuries and how he hasn’t made a major-league appearance since 2020.

In five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett this season, Soroka has a 5.23 ERA. Through his first three games this season, Soroka allowed just two earned runs while striking out nearly a batter per inning. In his last two starts, he has been rocked for 10 earned runs, including a seven-run outing over just three innings on April 30th.

Soroka is trying to get re-acclimated to the workload of being a starting pitcher. His last start came just six days after his previous start, which is the fewest amount of days between starts for Soroka this season.

We’ve also looked at the numbers and wondered if Soroka could return to the big leagues as more of a strikeout pitcher.

Regardless of the results, it will cap a hell of a journey for the Maple Maddux if he is able to finally return to a major-league mound after three about three years.

Break Glass in Case of Emergency

Should Fried’s mysterious injury end up requiring – God forbid – Tommy John or some kind of season-ending surgery, the Braves may need to look to the trade market to replace their ace. We will wait until we hear more on the injury before we start trade speculation.