Yankees’ Max Fried Making Progress on Rehab
Among the Yankees’ injured roster, Max Fried seems poised to make the earliest return. The left-handed pitcher took an important step in that direction on Friday night, starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In his outing, he threw 52 pitches over three innings, allowing two runs while striking out three and not issuing any walks. This comes after he had spent just over two months on the injured list due to a left elbow contusion.
Assuming everything goes smoothly from this performance, Fried is anticipated to have at least one more rehab outing on Wednesday. Following that, the Yankees will deliberate on whether he’s ready to rejoin the rotation, keeping in mind he won’t be fully prepared at that stage.
“Tonight was definitely a significant step for him,” said manager Aaron Boone prior to the Yankees’ 2-1 loss against the Dodgers as they kicked off the second half of the season.
For his next appearance, Fried is likely to aim for around 60 pitches. This means he could potentially return to the majors after approximately 70 pitches and will continue to ramp up from there.
Meanwhile, the Yankees need to figure out their pitching rotation for Tuesday’s game against the Pirates. Boone hasn’t decided yet whether to activate a fifth starter, like Elmer Rodriguez, or opt for a bullpen game, which he used against the Rays prior to the All-Star break.
The Yankees have already utilized three of Rodriguez’s five minor league options this season, so they have to be strategic about the remaining two going forward.
“It could resemble the game we had in Tampa, making use of extra relief pitchers. We’ll see how the upcoming games unfold and then determine what’s needed for Game 2 against the Pirates,” Boone mentioned.
In other news, Carlos Rodon, dealing with left elbow inflammation, threw about 10 pitches in a bullpen session on Friday. He’s continuing to recover after a week off.
In addition, Clark Schmidt is set to face batters for the first time on Saturday in a simulated inning as part of his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He expressed eagerness, saying, “I’m itching. It’s been a little over a year, but I just turned a year old. I’m very excited to start getting closer to competition bit by bit.”
Boone also reported that Giancarlo Stanton, recovering from a right calf strain, has begun running outside, though there’s still no timeline for his return.
Lastly, the Yankees were keeping an eye on air quality issues in the Bronx on Friday due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. Although conditions were mostly clear during much of the game, it did become slightly cloudy towards the end.
