Yankees' Max Fried to return from injury, start Game 2 of doubleheader vs. Pirates
Yankees pitcher Max Fried throws a live bullpen session at Yankee Stadium before a game against the Minnesota Twins on July 5. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Max Fried and Gerrit Cole will, at long last, pitch in the Yankees rotation together.
And they’ll do so on the same day.
The Yankees, who will play a split doubleheader against the Pirates Wednesday at the Stadium after Tuesday night’s game was postponed because of thunderstorms in the tri-state area, announced that Cole will start the afternoon game followed by Fried in the nightcap.
It will mark the first time that the two pitchers, each multiple-time All-Stars in their careers, are healthy at the same time as Yankees.
Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218-million free agent contract before the 2025 season, has been on the injured list since May 16 with a bone bruise in his left pitching elbow. Cole, whose entire 2025 season was wiped out by the Tommy John surgery he underwent in March 2025, made his 2026 debut on May 22, six days after Fried landed on the IL.
Fried, 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in his first 10 starts of the season before the injury, made all of one rehab start during his recovery, last Friday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (he allowed two runs and five hits over three innings, throwing 52 pitches). Manager Aaron Boone said over the weekend Fried would make at least one more rehab start — slated for Wednesday night — on a pitch count of roughly 60.
But the Yankees' second doubleheader in four days (they split a doubleheader Sunday against the Dodgers) changed that, and Fried’s build-up will now continue in the Bronx.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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