Max Fried Struggles in Yankees’ Victory Over Rockies

In an outing that proved to be a challenge, the worst team in baseball had Max Fried working harder than expected for every out.

Despite showcasing effectiveness by allowing just one run and one hit along with seven strikeouts, Fried’s performance was marked by inefficiency as he lasted only 3 ⅓ innings in a 10-3 win against the Rockies. He threw just 48 strikes out of 80 total pitches, which is, well, kind of frustrating.

“They saw a lot of pitches, they were having some good at-bats and not chasing,” Fried reflected. “I felt like I was getting ahead, then throwing some non-competitive pitches. … It was just a weird outing where I was executing in certain counts, but I also had a lot of bad misses that caused a lot of deep counts. Going 80 pitches and not getting through four [innings] is not ideal. I didn’t want to put the bullpen in that position, but they did a great job picking me up.”

Since returning from yet another bone bruise in his left elbow, Fried has allowed one run in each of his three outings, covering 12 ⅔ innings in total. The single run on Thursday came from a 431-foot home run hit by Colorado’s Kyle Karros, which sailed into the second deck in left field.

In this game, Fried did display flashes of brilliance, resembling the Cy Young contender seen earlier in the season when he struck out four consecutive batters. But there were clear signs of rust; he walked the leadoff batter in his final couple of innings, a reminder of how little he’s pitched since mid-July.

With a current record of 4-4 and a 2.73 ERA, Fried is on an 11-start winless streak, having last won on April 27. It’s a stark contrast to his impressive 19-5 record from the previous season, although he has consistently kept opponents to fewer than two runs in his last five starts.

“I’m feeling good, liking the progress so far, hitting my marks,” Fried stated. “I felt like I could’ve definitely stayed in that game and kept going … I’m just gonna keep building.”

Looking ahead, the Yankees are likely to lean heavily on Fried, who comes with the largest contract ever given to a left-handed pitcher.

Fried is confident that he will meet those expectations. “We’re looking forward to having me being completely built up for the end of the season and the playoffs,” he noted. “They’ve had a plan. As much as I would love to fast-forward the plan and just say, ‘Let’s throw it all out the window,’ they’ve got a lot of really smart people here who work really hard to try to make sure I’m gonna be healthy for when it matters most.”