Max Fried is back on the mound, and the Yankees need him to stay there. Just twelve days after landing on the injured list with a bone bruise in his left elbow, the left-hander took the hill again in The Bronx. This was his second time sidelined with the same issue this season, which usually spells disaster for a pitcher. Yet Fried looked sharp enough to earn a split in a doubleheader against the Red Sox. The team got a win, and that is what matters most right now.
A Short Outing With Big Impact
The Yankees secured a 9-2 victory over Boston on Saturday night to split the separate-admission doubleheader. Fried tossed 3 ²/₃ innings, allowing one earned run while striking out four batters. In the third inning, Nick Sogard hit a solo homer off him as he gave up two other hits as well.
Despite the home run, he retired the side in order after that threat. Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio were struck out by him to conclude his outing with strong form. Fried tossed 63 pitches total for the outing, per MLB. An early rally and late surge were fueled by thirteen singles, as the offense offered ample assistance. Fried himself admitted the return felt good despite the short time away.
“I was sharper earlier than late, but nice to get back out there, get your competitive juices going,” he said. The win was the main takeaway for the pitcher, not the innings count. “At the end of the day, us being able to win the game was really big,” he said. Manager Aaron Boone agreed with the assessment of the performance. “I thought, overall, he threw the ball pretty well, gave us enough there at the start,” Boone said. He noted that Fried possessed a feel for everything and kind of featured everything, which was good to see.
Velocity Dip Raises Questions
There is a small worry for fans looking at the raw numbers. Fried’s four-seam fastball averaged 93.8 mph on Saturday, down from his season average of 95 mph. His cutter also dropped from 92 mph to 90.8 mph. This slight dip in velocity is the one concern with his outing. The injury was a left elbow bone bruise, the same ailment that kept him out for two months earlier this year. He likened the pain earlier in the season to “the banging of two bones back there,” per MLB.com Yankees (official). The team placed him on the 15-day injured list on Aug. 17, retroactive to the 14th, according to MLB Trade Rumors. Now in the second year of an eight-year, $218MM deal, Fried has flourished as a Yankee even after health scares.
For the season, he has logged a 2.Above-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates accompany an 81 ERA. ERA estimators such as xERA (2.53) and FIP (2.56) back up those results, though xFIP (3.57) and SIERA (3.81) are more bearish on his work. The quick recovery suggests the ailment wasn’t overly serious this time around. Fried will rejoin AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Will Warren in their rotation once officially activated.
Rotation Boosts Come Fast
The Yankees lost fellow lefty Ryan Weathers to a forearm flexor strain last week, which made Fried’s return critical. Weathers landed on the IL on Aug. 23, leaving a hole in the staff. Fried’s return offers a boost to a New York rotation that needed help immediately. The 32-year-old left-hander will be able to return in time to help the Yankees in a key series. The team announced that 27-year-old right-hander Brendan Beck is their “27th Man” ahead of the doubleheader. This roster move cleared the way for Fried to start Game 2 of the doubleheader.
The Yankees revealed that Max Fried will be activated to start Game 2, marking a quick return from his second injured list stint. The speed of this recovery is rare for a bone bruise. It turns out the ailment wasn’t overly serious this time around, and the 32-year-old left-hander will be able to return in time to help the Yankees in a key series. The velocity drop is real, but the win is better. Fried is back, and the Yankees are one step closer to the playoffs.
