Giolito, Flaherty at G6 to support friend Fried

HOUSTON -- The promise goes all the way back to high school. If Lucas Giolito, Jack Flaherty or Max Fried fulfilled their lofty expectations and started a game the likes of a potential World Series clincher, the others would be there. That’s why Giolito and Flaherty boarded flights bound for Houston.

They were at Minute Maid Park to support Fried, the 27-year-old left-hander who -- like his old teammates from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles -- was a first-round Draft pick who has risen to the ranks of baseball’s best starting pitchers. All three started on Opening Day this season: Giolito for the White Sox, Flaherty for the Cardinals and Fried for the Braves. But only Fried was still standing on Tuesday night, when he started Game 6 of the World Series and earned the win by tossing six innings in the Braves' championship-clinching 7-0 victory over the Astros.

“I know Lucas and Jack wish they could be on the field, doing this with their teams,” said Matt LaCour, the trio’s high school baseball coach who is now head of Harvard-Westlake’s athletics department. “But to be here to support Max was pretty cool.”

Giolito was going into his senior year at Harvard-Westlake and Flaherty was about to be a sophomore when Fried joined them for his own senior season. Fried’s former high school, Montclair College Preparatory School, had shut down its athletics programs for budgetary reasons, making Fried a high-profile free agent at a time he was already projected as a first-round Draft pick.

At a sushi joint in L.A., Giolito led the pitch to land Fried, and the trio went into the 2012 baseball season with one goal in mind: Win the California state baseball championship. They didn’t do it -- Giolito sustained an elbow injury and missed much of the year -- but the experience nevertheless set the trio on a path to success. Fried went No. 7 overall to the Padres in the 2012 Draft and Giolito went No. 16 to the Nationals. Two years later, Flaherty was drafted at No. 34 overall by the Cardinals in the supplemental first round.

“These guys are about as close knit as you can possibly be,” said Ryan Hamill, the CAA Sports agent who represents all three pitchers. “It's actually been one of the coolest experiences of my career, seeing their friendship continue to grow and blossom and then feed off each other and continue to be support systems for each other.”

They rose separately through the Minor Leagues. Fried was traded from the Padres to the Braves in 2014, and Giolito from the Nationals to the White Sox in '16 before coming of age in '19, when the trio of former teammates combined to go 42-23 with a 3.36 ERA and 632 strikeouts. Flaherty finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award balloting after a sensational second half for St. Louis. Giolito finished sixth in American League Cy Young Award balloting after a bounce-back season with Chicago. Fried went 17-6 in his first full season in the big leagues for the Braves.

In 2021, when all three were named Opening Day starters, Giolito’s father, Rick, tweeted, “It’s a Trifecta!”

“One of the special things about this group of guys is how close they've stayed,” LaCour said. “You know, they have a lot in common. They went to a really tough school that academically pushed them. And they've gone through their Minor League baseball careers with ups and downs. They’re in the offseason working out together, they have the same agent. So it's pretty gratifying to see these guys support each other.”

When all three made the postseason, Hamill said, they collectively renewed the pact to support each other should anyone reach the World Series. After the Astros rallied for a win in Game 5 of the Fall Classic in Atlanta on Sunday that forced a Fried start for Game 6 in Houston, Hamill got commitments from Giolito and Flaherty to attend.

Then, Hamill extended the same invitation to LaCour: “Do you want to get on this train as well?”

It was an easy yes.

“It was something that we've all kind of discussed, even when these guys were in the Minor Leagues,” Hamill said. “If there are these moments where the guys can all share in the experience, they're like, ‘Yeah, absolutely, let’s do it.’ It's pretty cool. They're all really tight, they all pick each other up when they're down. And obviously when moments like this happen, it's good to have that support system.

“The coolest part of this whole thing is watching these three boys grow into men, and then grow into the stars that they've become. It's been really awesome to watch. The money hasn’t changed them, the fame hasn't changed them. In my eyes, they're all still these little kids that were on a high school team together that have grown into great young men. And it's pretty awesome to watch.”

LaCour has been on hand for some other notable games. Earlier this year, he attended the matchup of Giolito vs. Flaherty when the White Sox and Cardinals played in Chicago. And in 2019, LaCour was in Atlanta for Game 5 of the NL Division Series between St. Louis and Atlanta, a Flaherty start in which Fried came on in relief of Mike Foltynewicz in the first inning of a Cards blowout.

“You don't see many times where guys who went to high school achieve the same success and go on in the professional ranks to do these kinds of things,” LaCour said. “We all know how unique and special it is, so we're going to enjoy it for as long as we can.”