Max Dorian Fried ( ; born January 18, 1994), nicknamed "Maximus", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Drafted in 2012 by the San Diego Padres in the first round, seventh overall, Fried made his major league debut in 2017. His 17 wins in 2019 were 2nd-most in the National League, and his seven wins in 2020 were again 2nd-most in the NL. Through 2021, Fried was second in win–loss percentage of Braves career leaders, at .690. Fried pitched 6 shut-out innings in the final game of the 2021 World Series against the Houston Astros, helping lead the Braves to their first World Series title in 26 years. In 2020, Fried won the NL Gold Glove Award at pitcher and the Fielding Bible Award at pitcher. In 2021, he won the Gold Glove Award again, as well as the Silver Slugger Award for pitchers, becoming the third pitcher in MLB history to win both awards in the same year. He was also named to the All-MLB Team those two years. In 2022 he was named an All Star, and won his third consecutive Gold Glove Award at pitcher. Early career Fried was born and grew up in Santa Monica, California, the middle son of Carrie and Jonathan Fried, and is Jewish. His younger brother Jake, also a pitcher, attended the University of Arizona. Max began attending the Reggie Smith Baseball Academy in Encino, California, at the age of seven, and learned how to throw a curveball from the retired outfielder. Fried pitched for the 2009 Maccabiah Games Team USA Juniors baseball team that won a gold medal in Israel. Fried first attended Montclair College Preparatory School, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, where he played baseball, football, and basketball. As a sophomore, with Ethan Katz as his pitching coach, he was 10–3 with a 1.81 earned run average (ERA), and was named the Olympic League MVP and to the All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division V first team. In his junior year Fried was 7–3 with a 1.31 ERA, with 100 strikeouts in 69 innings, as he also played outfield and batted .360 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. He was named the 2011 Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Male High School Athlete of the Year. After Montclair Prep cut its baseball team subsequent to his junior year, Fried then transferred