Will Braves address SP need at Deadline?

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Max Fried will attempt to complete five innings as he makes his next Minor League rehab start tonight for Triple-A Gwinnett. Fried was scheduled to pitch Thursday night, but the game was rained out.

If the Braves want to activate Fried to start one of next week’s games in Boston, he would be on regular rest to take the mound for Wednesday’s series finale. They also could choose to give him an additional rehab start based on how he feels during and after Friday’s outing. The veteran left-hander has been sidelined since May 5 with a left forearm strain.

Fried’s return will help the Braves, but beyond Fried, Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider, uncertainty surrounds the other rotation candidates. Though Bryce Elder was leading the National League in ERA two weeks ago, it can’t be assumed his past two starts were just a bump in the road.

Even if Elder rights himself, there’s still a need for somebody else to eat innings out of the fifth spot. Michael Soroka might be capable of doing this, but he’s still in the process of proving he can be both durable and effective with his twice surgically-repaired right Achilles tendon.

AJ Smith-Shawver, Allan Winans and Jared Shuster are other candidates to fill the fifth spot over the next couple months. There’s also still hope Kyle Wright can make a few starts in September.

Maybe there are enough options to adequately fill that rotation spot for the rest of the regular season. But given the uncertainty, the Braves may need to take advantage of this last chance to add at the Deadline.