Max Fried Tracker

MAX FRIED
LHP, Harvard-Westlake HS
Age: 18
Born: January 18, 1994
Height: 6′ 4″
Weight: 170
Bats: Left
Throws: Left

Class: Senior
Level: Prep

Advisor: N/A

Links:

All Max Fried Posts

SCOUTING REPORT
Fried pitches for the same high school team as top prep pitcher Lucas Giolito. He doesn’t have the stuff that Giolito has, but his stuff is good enough to make him a top pitching prospect. The left hander throws his fastball in the 90-91 MPH range, touching 93-94, and throwing the pitch on a downward plane. He has a projectable frame and an easy delivery, which gives him the chance to add velocity going forward. His best pitch is his curveball, which is an above-average offering, ranking as one of the best curveballs in the draft. His changeup has good deception and late sink.

Fried throws all three pitches for strikes, and knows how to pitch, with a good ability of mixing up his pitches and keeping hitters off-balance. The Pirates have been used to taking very polished pitchers in the last two years with Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole. Fried isn’t that type of pitcher, although he has a chance for a lot of upside if he can add some velocity to his fastball and continue to improve his secondary pitches. He’s a bit of a project, but not to the extent of the prep pitchers that the Pirates have taken in the middle rounds of the previous drafts. If Fried doesn’t add velocity, and doesn’t see a lot of improvements in his secondary stuff, he’s still a first round talent.

Overall there’s a lot of upside. He’s got a longer way to go to reach that upside than Cole or Taillon, but he’s not as much of a project as someone like Zack Von Rosenberg or Colton Cain.

COLLEGE COMMITMENT
2013: UCLA
2012 DRAFT RANKINGS
Baseball America: #10 (4/11/2012)
Jonathan Mayo: #7 (5/1/2012)
Keith Law: #9 (4/10/2012)
STATS
NO STATS