Yankees Offer 2-Word Response on Max Fried’s ‘Dark’ Injury Setback

After a blistering start to the season, the New York Yankees are heading into the All-Star break with some real questions about their ability to win a second straight American League pennant.

The Yankees dropped two games in a row after a listless loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday and face some significant questions about their infield defense and bullpen depth with just a few weeks to go before the trade deadline. But after a brutal injury setback for the team’s best starter on Saturday, perhaps the biggest question mark is the rotation.

“The bandage on Max Fried’s left index finger was small enough to go unnoticed on TV, but it’s what’s underneath that has the Yankees’ attention,” Bob Klapisch reported for NJ.com. “There lies a nasty blister that limited Fried to three innings against the Cubs on Saturday. What comes next for the Yankees’ ace — and their rotation — is anyone’s guess.”

It’s certainly a positive that Fried will have some extra time off to heal over the All-Star break. But he seemed to be struggling from the mound even before announcing the injury.

“Is there a dark cloud looming?” Klapisch asked. “Fried has allowed 10 earned runs in his last 14 innings.”

The Yankees haven’t been able to say when Fried might return from the blister. Manager Aaron Boone offered an ominously vague response on the potential timeline after he exited his latest start.

“We’ll see,” Boone said, per Klapisch.

Klapisch also noted that Fried could now be set for a significant workload reduction in the second half of the season, given his career-high innings pace and the onset of this injury. And without Fried eating as many innings, the Yankees could struggle to right the ship.

“It’s not impossible Fried is already fatiguing as the summer’s dog days approach,” Klapisch added. “Consider it another setback for the Yankees’ rotation.”

Though Fried has been an All-Star twice in his previous three seasons with the Atlanta Braves, durability concerns have followed him. He made only 14 starts in 2023 and has never pitched more than 186 innings in his career.

When the Yankees signed him this past winter, they envisioned Fried as a second option behind franchise ace Gerrit Cole. But Cole went down for the year during spring training and the team could be in need of a frontline replacement in the next few weeks as Fried starts to wane.

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