The Atlanta Braves entered the season with one of the best projected starting rotations in the big leagues. Max Fried is a perrenial Cy Young candidate, Spencer Strider was going to be a future Cy Young candidate, Charlie Morton was the steady veteran presence (who was 5th in the NL in strikeouts in 2022), and Kyle Wright was coming off of a 20-win season.

Kyle Wright to Miss 2024 Season

Fried and Wright dealt with injuries all season. Fried was able to make 14 starts and will take the mound tonight in a critical Game 2 of the NLDS. Meanwhile, Kyle Wright didn’t make the postseason roster and we recently found out why.

Brian Snitker announced that the 28-year-old righty will undergo shoulder surgery and will miss the entire 2024 season.

Wright won’t return until 2025 and after two lost seasons, who knows if he’ll be able to rebound back to his 2022 form. This also creates a lot of uncertainty for the future of the rotation.

Max Fried Extension Would Create Much-Needed Stability for Future of Rotation

Atlanta has the offense locked up for years to come but the same cannot be said for the starting rotation. Outside of Spencer Strider, nothing is certain.

Father time is ticking on Charlie Morton. He also appeared to indicate that he may be mulling retirement this offseason.

Max Fried is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next year and his price tag will be very high as he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past few seasons.

That basically leaves Spencer Strider and a full rebuild of the pitching staff over the next couple of years.

Even if the Braves lock Fried up to an extension, there will still be a lot of work to do to reinforce this rotation over the long-term. With Kyle Wright and Michael Soroka‘s futures uncertain, the Braves may need to dig as deep as they can to lock Max Fried up beyond next season.