Max Fried pitched in a big-league game for the first time in over two months on Wednesday night, and the Yankee lefty did not miss a beat.
In fact, the 2025 All-Star looked as good as he had all season before his elbow injury.
Fried dominated a strong Pirates lineup in the second game of a doubleheader, tossing five shutout innings and striking out seven in a 2-0 win for the Bombers. Fried, pitching for the first time since May 14, struck out seven and allowed just one hit and one walk. The lone hit he surrendered was on the first batter of the game, a hard single to Nick Gonzales, who was thrown out at second by Cody Bellinger after trying to push for a leadoff double.
Any remnants of rust, or the bone bruise that kept Fried out for an extended period, were seemingly nonexistent. Fried threw his fastest pitch of the season to end the top of the first, whiffing Bryan Reynolds on a 98.3 mph fastball up in the zone. Fried touched 99 mph on the radar gun shortly after.
The efficient Fried was on a pitch count limit, as he was originally slotted to pitch in a rehab assignment on Wednesday night. But he looked like he could have continued past the fifth inning, as he struck out two in his final frame of work. Given the team's offensive struggles, getting peak Fried back immediately was exactly what the Yankees needed.
Wednesday marked the first time Fried and Gerrit Cole were in the rotation at the same time. They pitched on the same day, and both looked on top of their games. It was enough to leave Yankee fans dreaming, even with the hitting woes, that this duo of aces paired with Cam Schlittler could be the best pitching trio in baseball, which could be a major boost come October.
There was no sign of rust in Fried's dominant five innings of work.
There was no sign of rust in Fried's dominant five innings of work.
