Max Fried’s 1st-inning meltdown fries the already panicked brains of Braves fans

Fans of the Atlanta Braves have been living the good life with a World Series in 2021 and two 100-win seasons since. But it was not good to be a Braves fan on Saturday.

Atlanta revealed damage to Spencer Strider's UCL, potentially requiring Tommy John surgery. That news dropped just before the Braves faced off with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

With Max Fried on the mound, Braves fans looked for a sign that they would be able to cope without Strider. They got the opposite.

Fried's first inning was an utter disaster. Ketel Marte hit the second pitch he saw out of the park. The first eight batters the pitcher faced reached base and six of them scored before the inning mercifully ended.

Braves fans hit panic button after Max Fried meltdown, Spencer Strider injury

To Fried's credit, he came back out in the second and struck out three batters in a row. He returned in the third and fourth, quickly finding another six outs. So he can still pitch at a high level. He just dug a giant hole that Atlanta's offense wasn't able to get out of through the first three innings, notching just one hit.

Fried has been an outstanding pitcher for the Braves with a career 3.06 ERA but this has not been his year so far. In his opening game against the Phillies, he managed just two outs before being yanked, walking three and giving up three runs.

The timing of his struggles couldn't be worse. With Strider out for the foreseeable future and the rotation already feeling thin, Atlanta would have felt a whole lot better if Fried looked like his old self. His struggles just pile on the pressure for the bats and pitching prospects who will be called on to pick up the slack.

UPDATE: The great thing about the Braves lineup? They're still one of the best in the business. Atlanta stormed back to beat the Diamondbacks, 9-8. A pitching crisis feels a lot less dire when you can do that.