It is worth reiterating: Max Fried is still pitching with shackles, not yet free to pitch as deep into games as he desires.
It is worth reiterating: The Yankees’ rotation is not yet whole.
And yet Fried again looked in peak form as part of a rotation that seems to be peaking with every start, and this Yankees lineup requires every bit of its brilliance.
The lefty was the latest excellent Yankees starter — and, for a change, a rewarded excellent Yankees starter — in a 3-2, 10-inning, comeback victory over the Braves on Friday night in The Bronx, where Fried faced his former team for the first time and pitched as if he had this game circled on his calendar since signing with the Yankees on Dec. 17, 2024.
No, the 2026 schedule was not released at that point. But Fried certainly pored over this year’s schedule once he got it.
“This one’s been circled on the calendar for a little bit,” Fried said after dominating over 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings against old pals such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson, surrendering just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. “Definitely brought up a lot of emotions and just really was able to think about my time over there. That’s a first-class organization.”
He mixed in all seven pitches — including a changeup he rarely throws to retire Olson in the fourth, Olson passing Fried on the field and saying he wondered if that pitch would be thrown, eliciting a smile from Fried — watched his velocity tick up and was efficient.
“Still on a pitch count, and he’s able to get an out into the seventh,” manager Aaron Boone said of Fried, who has been stretching out on the fly in the majors following an IL stint and jumped from 78 pitches in his previous outing to 90 on Friday. “He was terrific.”
As terrific as, well, just about every other Yankees starter going right now. Fried & Friends, which does not yet include the rehabbing Carlos Rodón, have surrendered one run or fewer in eight of the past 10 games, a span in which Yankees starters have allowed 10 earned runs in 57 ²/₃ innings (1.56 ERA).
And yet the Yankees have won just five times in that stretch because their lineup has too often lacked a pulse — as it did for eight innings Friday, before waking up in the ninth and 10th.
When Fried was on the mound, he received no support — at least offensively. Defensively, the Yankees offered an assist. The only true danger Fried encountered arrived immediately, Drake Baldwin and Albies reaching in the first inning. With two outs, Mauricio Dubón shot a single through the middle, Trent Grisham charging, crow-hopping and throwing strong — to third base, rather than home plate. Albies attempted to go from first to third and was tagged out by Ryan McMahon a split-second before Baldwin touched home, running the Braves into an out that cost them a run.
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“My first innings haven’t been very good,” Fried said, “so to be able to rely on the defense and just a bang-bang play, something that went my way, it was huge.”
And it was his old friends’ last chance against Fried, who allowed just one more Brave to reach second base and who retired the final 12 batters he saw.
