The New York Yankees had an off-day Monday, but they still took an L. Left-hander Max Fried was placed on the injured list with a bone bruise in his pitching elbow, the team announced. Fried missed two months with the same injury earlier this year. The veteran southpaw made five effective starts between injured list stints and 15 starts this season overall.
Fried, 32, is in the second season of an eight-year, $218 million contract. It is the largest contract for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Last year, Fried threw a career-high 195 ⅓ innings with a 2.86 ERA and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting.
With their offense struggling, the Yankees have become a run prevention team. They’re 15-13 since the All-Star break, despite scoring no more than three runs in 19 of those 28 games, because their pitching has been incredible. The Yankees have allowed only 3.39 runs per game since the All-Star break, well ahead of the second-place Mets (3.55).
Fried is obviously a huge part of the run prevention plan. Though the previous bone bruise cost him two months, manager Aaron Moone said Tuesday that the injury is “not like that this time” and that Fried could miss only the requisite 15 days.
American League wild-card standings
1. Yankees: 69-55 (+8 ½ GB)
2. Red Sox: 67-58 (+6 GB)
3. Orioles: 61-64
4. Rangers: 61-64
5. Tigers: 61-64
6. Twins: 61-65
7. Blue Jays: 61-65
The Yankees are six games behind the Rays in the AL East, and that’s where they will feel Fried’s absence the most, at least in the regular season. They’ll have a harder time chasing down Tampa for the division title (and thus a Wild Card Series bye) without Fried than they will simply hanging onto a postseason berth. They’re in good shape to get to October.
Here now is what Fried’s injury means for the Yankees, including how they can replace him, the trickle-down effect on the rest of the pitching staff, and what needs to happen to pick up the slack.
Rodón returns Tuesday
The Yankees signed Fried prior to last season with the idea of teaming him up with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, but not once have all three been healthy at same time. Cole missed last season with Tommy John surgery, then, when he returned this year, Fried was out with his bone bruise. By the time Fried returned, Rodón had gone down with elbow inflammation.
New York won’t have to scramble to replace Fried. Rodón was already scheduled to come off the injured list on Tuesday, so he’ll step into Fried’s rotation spot. One lefty comes back and another goes down. Here is the team’s rotation depth chart:
- RHP Gerrit Cole
LHP Max Fried(out with elbow bone bruise)- RHP Cam Schlittler
LHP Carlos Rodón(returning Tuesday from elbow inflammation)- LHP Ryan Weathers
- RHP Will Warren
RHP Clarke Schmidt(rehabbing from UCL surgery)RHP Luis Gil(out since April with shoulder inflammation)- RHP Elmer Rodríguez
- RHP Brendan Beck
Manager Aaron Boone previously indicated that Schmidt, who’s yet to start a minor-league rehab assignment, will return as a reliever because there isn’t much time left to stretch him out to start. That plan could change with Fried hurt. Gil is on a rehab assignment right now, though he hasn’t pitched well since his 2024 AL Rookie of the Year season. He may not be in the plans.
Warren was expected to move into the bullpen and assume a multi-inning role once Rodón returned. Instead, with Fried out, Warren will remain in the rotation. Weathers has been terrific the last six weeks or so, ever since the Yankees shelved his homer-prone four-seam fastball and had him lean on his sinker, slider, and changeup. He’s favored to step into the postseason rotation to replace Fried.
The postseason is weeks away, though. Worry about that later. For now, the Yankees will essentially replace Fried with Rodón and keep Warren in the rotation. It definitely could be worse. It could be better, but it could be much worse.
The bullpen won’t get a boost
The Yankees never came out and said it, but it seemed like they hoped to strengthen their middle relief by putting Warren and Weathers in the bullpen come postseason time. Cole, Fried, Rodón, and Schlittler make up an excellent postseason rotation, and the Yankees have a lockdown late-inning tandem in David Bednar and Brent Headrick. The middle innings are where it gets dicey.
Unless Fried returns quickly, that plan is off the table now. Weathers will be earmarked for the postseason rotation, taking him out of play as a bullpen option. The Yankees did not add any relievers at the trade deadline. GM Brian Cashman said they tried to bring in bullpen help, but couldn’t line up on a deal. At the moment, New York’s bullpen looks like this:
Schmidt could work his way into that mix at some point in September, but again, he’s yet to start a rehab assignment. His return is not imminent. That is more or less Boone’s relief crew now. The Yankees hoped to add Warren and Weathers to the mix. Fried’s injury makes it less likely that both will move to the bullpen. One will be needed in the rotation.
Because the Yankees play so many close, low-scoring games, Bednar and Headrick have worked a ton over the last few weeks. Headrick has pitched 63 times in New York’s 124 games, and Bednar routinely gets more than three outs. Moving Warren and Weathers to the bullpen would have allowed Boone to ease up on his late-inning guys. Now he has to find another way.
The offense has to step up
This was true even when Fried was healthy. The Yankees simply must score more runs. Their offensive issues go beyond “Aaron Judge is injured.” There are underperformers up and down the lineup. Eight Yankees have at least 40 plate appearances in August and only three — Trent Grisham, George Lombard Jr., Ryan McMahon — have a league-average OPS. It’s just not enough.
August Runs Per Game
1. Red Sox: 6.06
2. Tigers: 5.80
…
MLB average: 4.37
…
29. Yankees: 3.07
30. Angels: 2.75
That the Yankees are 7-7 in August while getting that little offense and not, say, 4-10, is a minor miracle. It’s a World Series-caliber pitching staff and a draft lottery-caliber offense.
Cody Bellinger (hamstring strain) could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Thursday, which would set him up to return next week. Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) is expected back at the end of the month. Judge (rib fracture) has started throwing but has yet to swing a bat. He’s likely looking at a mid-September return at best. There is some help coming, but only so much and only so soon.
Even without Fried, the Yankees don’t need a powerhouse offense to contend. Give them a league-average offense and they’ll win most nights with their pitching, but they haven’t had a league-average offense in weeks. The Yankees have been one of the worst-hitting teams in baseball lately. They have little margin of error each night. Without Fried, that margin of error gets even smaller.
