Braves’ Jewish Trio Aim for Strong Second Half

With just over two months remaining in the 2023 MLB season, the Braves’ three Jewish players (Max Fried, Kevin Pillar, Jared Shuster) have been together on the active big-league roster for less than a week. While Pillar, per his surname, has been a pillar of skipper Brian Snitker’s bench all season, Fried has endured an injury-riddled campaign while Shuster, currently residing in Triple-A Gwinnett, has had an up-and-down rookie season.

And with July melting into August, it’s quite possible that the trio of Jewish Braves won’t overlap until next season.

Undoubtedly, the club’s pursuit of a second World Series title in three years largely hinges on Fried’s golden left arm. After exiting Atlanta’s Opening Day win against the Washington Nationals in the middle of the fourth inning with a hamstring strain, Fried returned to action on April 17 and didn’t allow a run over his next three starts. However, after an uncharacteristically subpar outing against the Baltimore Orioles and Dean Kremer (Team Israel) on May 5, during which he sustained a left forearm strain, Fried was placed on the 15-day injured list and subsequently shelved for the next couple months after moving over to the 60-day IL.

It wasn’t until earlier this month – during a July 9 start for Triple-A Gwinnett — that the All-Star southpaw, who finished runner-up in the National League Cy Young voting last season, initiated his rehab work. Over 35 pitches, Fried worked around two walks and a single before getting pulled in the second inning without yielding a run.

The two-month absence was Fried’s longest time between appearances since Tommy John surgery in 2014 sidelined him for a year and a half when he was a can’t-miss prospect in the San Diego Padres organization.

“As an athlete and a competitor, you always want to be helping your guys out. You want to be in the fire, be part of the mix,” Fried said after his first rehab outing against the Omaha Storm Chasers. “That’s kind of been the hardest part. Knowing how well and amazing they’ve been performing, you can take your time. But I want to be part of it. I’d rather be in it than watching from the sideline.”

With the Braves holding a commanding NL East lead, the club is not rushing Fried back. Less than a week after the Gwinnett start, the slender lefty threw even fewer pitches (30) but was sharper than during his first rehab outing, firing 23 strikes while only allowing two hits and not walking a batter. Though there remains some uncertainty with the exact timing, Atlanta’s ace, who turns 30 this January and has one year of arbitration remaining before hitting free agency, has been projected to make his highly anticipated return by late July/early August.

Of course, that Fried’s return is imminent makes Shuster’s chances of rejoining the Braves rotation even slimmer.

With his first two big league stints behind him now, rookie Jared Shuster is primed to give the Braves meaningful innings if not this season, then perhaps next year // Photo Credit: Matthew Grimes/Atlanta Braves

Though Shuster posted a 5.00 ERA over two stints with Atlanta this spring, his second time-around was a marked improvement from his first two big-league outings in early April when he yielded a combined eight earned runs while walking nine. As it stands, the rookie season highlight for Shuster came on May 21 when the Braves’ 2020 first-round draft pick pitched six innings of one-hit ball against the Seattle Mariners to record his first MLB win.

“He [Shuster] came to Spring [Training] thinking he had no shot of breaking with the team, and he did,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud remarked afterwards. “For him to grow from that is pretty special. Each start, he’s gotten better and better. It’s really good to see him grow.”

Barring any further injuries to the Braves’ deep pitching rotation, Shuster, who has largely struggled since returning to the minors, will likely not return to Atlanta this year. However, starting on Sept. 1, MLB 26-man rosters do expand to cover 28 players – teams can carry 14 pitchers – which could bolster Shuster’s chances of getting called back up.

As one of the most experienced players on a young Braves roster, Kevin Pillar has been a model of professionalism and consistency all season long // Photo Credit: Matthew Grimes/Atlanta Braves

Pillar, meanwhile, has come as advertised – a team-first journeyman who plays a solid left field and provides occasional power from the right side. The 34-year-old Pillar, who broke into Major League Baseball a decade ago for the Toronto Blue Jays, is, at this point of his career, strictly a part-time player often called upon to pinch-hit against lefties. The veteran outfielder’s most memorable pinch-hit as a Brave, without question, occurred back on May 6 when he clubbed his 100th career home run in the eighth inning of a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

“I know 100 is kind of insignificant to a lot of people, when you think about the greats and how many home runs they’ve hit,” Pillar said after his early season milestone that also proved to be the game-winning hit that evening. “But for a kid who was drafted in the 32nd round, and never thought he would be in the big leagues 10 years later, to have 100 homers — I’ve never been a big home run guy, it just kind of speaks to maybe some consistency, being able to stay on the field, accumulating enough at-bats, and maybe coming into a little power as I got a little older, a little more mature.”

Looking ahead beyond 2023, it’s quite possible that yet another Jewish ballplayer may one day don a Braves uniform: with its sixth-round pick in the recent MLB Draft the franchise selected Lucas Braun, a right-handed pitcher out of Cal State Northridge.