The Yankees‘ scheduled game against the Pirates Tuesday night was postponed due to weather, setting up a doubleheader on Wednesday and it’ll include some big-name pitchers for New York. Former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole will get the ball for Game 1 and All-Star lefty Max Fried is now scheduled to start Game 2 in his first appearance in more than two months.
Fried has been on the shelf since May 16 due to a bone bruise in his left elbow and hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 13. Interestingly, earlier on Tuesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone (via MLB.com) said Fried would take one more minor-league rehab start before rejoining the rotation. Things have apparently changed in the hours since.
In 32 starts last season, Fried was 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA, finishing fourth in AL Cy Young voting in his first season with the Yankees. In 10 starts this season prior to his injury, he was 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 50 strikeouts against 19 walks in 61 ⅔ innings.
MLB Power Rankings: When did the AL East turn into a real race? Plus, a surprise contender heating up again
Matt Snyder
Fried only made one rehab start, giving up two runs on five hits in three innings on 52 pitches. Given that he’s not fully stretched out just yet, it seems possible that Will Warren (originally scheduled to start on Tuesday) could piggyback Fried in this outing.
An interesting wrinkle here, with Cole and Fried pitching on the same day, is that it’ll be the first day both are on the Yankees’ active roster together. Fried was signed as a free agent in the offseason leading into 2025 and Cole missed all of 2025 after having Tommy John surgery. He returned to the rotation on May 22 this season, roughly a week after Fried went down with an injury.
Along with Fried and Cole, All-Star Cam Schlittler is another frontline starter for the Yankees and they’ll look to add former All-Star lefty Carlos Rodón back from the injured list in the coming weeks. Warren and Ryan Weathers add depth in what could be a stellar rotation down the stretch.
The Yankees enter Wednesday’s doubleheader at 56-44, 1.5 games behind the Rays in the AL East standings.
