Fried was optioned to Double-A Mississippi on Thursday.
There was some thought that the 23-year-old southpaw could skip High-A altogether, as he is already on the 40-man roster and was dominant in the second half at Low-A last season, and that will indeed be the case. Of the pitchers in last year's historically stacked Low-A Rome rotation, Fried should be the first to reach the majors if he can handle this aggressive assignment. While he may seem a tad old at 23, he missed almost two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery, so he's closer to 21 in baseball years. He has the potential to be a No. 3 starter.