Braves' Opening Day Starter Officially Announced

Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season is less than a week away and the league has officially revealed the pitching matchups for all 15 games. The list of pitchers includes Cy Young winners, rising stars and unexpected veterans. The Atlanta Braves are staying true to their ace from last season, though.

Atlanta Braves Opening Day Starter

Max Fried will start against the Washington Nationals when the Braves kick off their season at 1:05 p.m. ET on Thursday afternoon. It shouldn't be a surprising announcement considering Fried led Atlanta's rotation with a 14-7 record, 2.48 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 30 starts in 2022 (185.1 innings).

Fried's efforts landed him consideration for the National League Cy Young award, but he ultimately finished second behind Miami's Sandy Alcantara. The 29-year-old has looked stellar in spring training, too, striking out 11 batters and giving up zero runs on 4 hits across 11.1 innings of work (3 starts).

This will be Fried's third straight Opening Day start, but he is still looking for a victory. The Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies to open the 2021 season and lost to the Cincinnati Reds to begin the 2022 campaign. Fried said he is excited to "get those butterflies again because you know baseball’s back.”

Atlanta Braves 2023 Odds

The Braves are currently tied for the second-best odds (+750) to win the World Series in 2023, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Atlanta is also slated as the favorite to win the National League East title at +100 odds, while Fried ranks seventh in the odds to win the NL Cy Young Award at +1200.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. 

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