Standing behind home plate as he watched the beginning of the simulated game, pitching coach Matt Blake took in a few pitches before turning around and shouting to a few members of the Yankees’ front office.
“Good deadline acquisition,” Blake yelled with a smile.
Max Fried does not yet have a firm timetable to return, but his positive progression grew a bit more tangible Tuesday.
For the first time since exiting a game in Baltimore on May 13, the Yankees lefty faced hitters again. He threw 28 pitches in two simulated innings to Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham, looked encouraged coming off the mound and looked like himself on it.
“I’ve faced him a couple times [in my career]. It’s never fun,” McMahon said. “It still wasn’t fun today. So it definitely looks like Max Fried.”
The sight of Fried pitching again was enticing enough to fill the Yankees’ dugout about four hours before the first pitch of the night’s game against the Tigers.
Aaron Boone, plenty of members of his coaching staff, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, much of the bullpen and Cody Bellinger were among the many to see Fried taking the next step toward a return with an elbow that did not betray any issues.
Fried is recovering from a left elbow bone bruise that has cost him about seven weeks and counting, but the injury was less serious than originally feared, since his UCL was OK.
He had been throwing throughout his downtime on the injured list but has gotten the green light to begin building up. The next step for Fried is another live session Sunday, so he does not have a date yet even for a rehab assignment and figures to be at least a month away.
But barring a setback, the Yankees will have another ace — a third — to reincorporate into the rotation during the second half.
“Looked great. Like, really good,” Boone said. “Stuff was good. I thought he was really sharp. From the side there, it looked like good Max Fried.”
McMahon and Grisham managed no hard contact against Fried apart from a long foul ball from the third baseman. Boone had said a day prior that Giancarlo Stanton would be part of the sim game, but Tuesday the manager said he had misspoken.
Fried was able to land his curveball for a strike a few times and had a sinker McMahon called “nasty.”
“He’s just an absolute bulldog out there, man,” said McMahon, who saw Fried the Brave plenty when he was with the Rockies. “You [reporters] have had the pleasure of watching him. We’ve had the pleasure of playing behind him. He’s going to go compete every fifth day and give everything he’s got. That’s all you can ask for.”
Fried signed with the Yankees for $218 million ahead of the 2025 season to be the No. 2 behind Cole, who then required Tommy John surgery that spring. Fried was excellent, an All-Star and fourth-place finisher in AL Cy Young voting last season, before going down just nine days before Cole’s season debut. The two still have never shared a rotation.
If they can synchronize their health, and if Cam Schlittler can remain the revelation he has been as the front-runner for this year’s AL Cy Young, the Yankees would have arguably the best front three in the playoff field.
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Tuesday became a notable stride toward that Yankees dream.
“Really ever since coming out in Baltimore, I feel like every step of the way has gone really well as he’s getting back now to this point,” Boone said. “Encouraging step for Max today.”