Max Fried Returns to Pitch for Yankees
Just twelve days ago, Max Fried found himself on the injured list again.
The initial thoughts were somewhat grim; many assumed that his season might be over, especially since this was the second occurrence of the same bone bruise in his left elbow.
However, less than two weeks later, the left-handed pitcher was back on the mound for the Yankees in The Bronx.
On Saturday night, Fried appeared to be back to his usual self, though it wasn’t an extensive outing in a 9-2 win that allowed the Yankees to split their day-night doubleheader against the Red Sox. He struck out four batters, walked three, and gave up one earned run across 3 ²/₃ innings, throwing a total of 63 pitches.
“I felt sharper early on than late, but it was nice to get back out there and get those competitive juices flowing,” he noted. “Ultimately, our win was really significant.”
Fried did allow a solo home run to Nick Sogard during the third inning but managed to prevent any further damage from the Red Sox. They managed to get two runners on with one out in that inning, yet Fried retired both Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu to close out the threat. He ended his outing strong, striking out Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio.
“Overall, I thought he pitched pretty well and gave us what we needed at the start,” manager Aaron Boone remarked. “He showed good command of all his pitches, which was encouraging.”
One point of concern regarding Fried’s performance was the drop in velocity on his four-seam fastball. Normally averaging around 95 mph this season, it clocked in at 93.8 mph that night. His cutter also dipped from 92 to 90.8 mph, though curiously, his sinker showed a slight increase in speed.
“I’m not overly concerned about it,” Fried said. “I felt I still made some effective pitches, kept them off-balance, and I felt good overall.”
The hope is that Fried will remain healthy for the rest of the season. He explained that this latest stint on the injured list was a result of one pitch aggravating his elbow and doesn’t foresee any further setbacks.
“I feel great,” Fried expressed confidently. “Very, very confident.”
