Fried was named Atlanta's Opening Day starter Thursday and will get the nod April 1 against Aaron Nola and the Phillies.

EDGE Analysis

Fried could be pushed for the role by a healthy Mike Soroka (Achilles) or Ian Anderson in the future, but he's the obvious choice this season coming off a year in which he cruised to a 2.25 ERA. Fried's xFIP (4.05) and SIERA (4.32) tell a very different story about his 2020 season, however, as it took a .268 BABIP, an 82.0 percent strand rate and a 4.9 percent HR/FB rate to get him to that excellent ERA -- all of which should all regress a fair amount this season. If he slides toward those ERA estimators this season, he'll be more of a mid-rotation starter than an ace, but he'll still be a useful arm for Atlanta.