Max Fried vs. Trevor Bauer for Game One in Braves/Reds series
For game one of the Wild Card series between the Braves and the Reds, the two teams will (obviously) be throwing their ace pitchers. It's Max Fried for the Braves and Trevor Bauer for the Reds.
Both are Cy Young candidates. With Max Fried not qualifying for the ERA title, he's not going to get as much love as Bauer, even with his perfect 7-0 record.
Bauer's record was only 5-4, but he led the National League with a 1.73 ERA in 11 games. Bauer allowed 17 runs (14 earned) on only 41 hits in 73.0 innings, with only 17 walks and 100 strikeouts.
Bauer did allow nine home runs, and he'll be facing a team that finished second in the NL in that category with 103. The Braves need to get some runners on so if they hit some dingers it won't be of the solo variety.
Fried does not allow home runs. He allowed just two, both in the same inning of his last start of the season. Fried had a 2.25 ERA with 14 runs allowed on 42 hits in 56.0 innings, with 19 walks and 50 strikeouts.
Of course, there has to be some concern about Fried's injury issues. He tweaked his ankle the other night in his final game, and he had missed a week before that with back issues.
Fried is obviously the most important pitcher on this roster. With a depleted rotation, he's the best one and has postseason experience. However, he's never started a playoff game. Fried pitched four games in relief in both of the last two postseason series.
His numbers from those outings are skewed since he replaced Mike Foltynewicz in last year's nightmare first inning in game five against the Cardinals.
Bauer pitched in 10 postseason games for the Indians before he was traded to the Reds. He's 1-4 in 10 games (six starts) with an ERA of 3.81, with 31 hits allowed in 26.0 innings, eight walks and 32 strikeouts.
This year, Bauer was obviously tremendous. He throws a lot of pitches, averaging 105.9 pitches per start. He did not go 6.0 innings only once this season, when he gave up three runs on four hits in 5.1 innings against the Cubs on August 29.
Bauer pitched twice this year against Detroit, twice against the Cubs, twice against Pittsburgh and three times against Milwaukee – once against Kansas City and White Sox.
So, in seven of his 11 starts, Bauer pitched against the Pirates (28th) Cubs (27th) and Brewers (26th) were three of the five-worst hitting teams in MLB.
Here is how the Braves hitters have done lifetime versus Bauer:
Pablo Sandoval - 1-1
Tyler Flowers - 6-11 with a home run and three RBI
Freddie Freeman - 4-10 with a RBI
Ozzie Albies - 2-5
Adam Duvall - 2.6 with a home runs and three RBI
Nick Markakis - 1-7
Ronald Acuna - 0-6
Dansby Swanson - 0-2
Marcell Ozuna - 0-2
Travis d'Arnaud - 0-1
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