Yankees' Max Fried will start during Saturday's doubleheader after coming off injured list
Yankees pitcher Max Fried looks on from the dugout during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 22, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
When Max Fried returned to the injured list on Aug. 17 with symptoms from the left elbow bone bruise that cost him two months earlier in the season, the Yankees immediately expressed optimism that he could be back after spending the requisite 15 days on the injured list.
Their optimism proved well-founded.
Fried, who was able to play catch the same day the Yankees placed him on the IL, will return to the rotation on Saturday. He and Carlos Rodon will start for the Yankees in their split doubleheader against the Red Sox, manager Aaron Boone announced before Friday night’s game.
“He’s responded well,” Boone said.
Speaking on Aug. 18 — the day after the Yankees put Fried on the IL — Boone indicated he thought his stay there would be a short one.
“He was close to being able to make his next start, but we’re just trying to be a little bit cautious here and manage this thing as we get down the stretch,” Boone said that afternoon in Baltimore.
In other words, the Yankees seriously considered having Fried, who was feeling slight discomfort in his left elbow, take his next turn in the rotation.
The biggest piece of evidence backing that up was the fact that the Yankees were comfortable having Fried play catch on Aug. 17.
“We were hopeful of that going in because there was some thought we maybe could have even kept him pitching,” Boone said Friday.
Fried is 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 15 starts this season and posted a 1.82 ERA in five starts after returning from his first stint on the IL.
He will be rejoining a rotation that — even with his injuries and the fact that Gerrit Cole missed the first two months of the season as he completed his recovery from Tommy John surgery — has been among the best in the majors this season. Entering Cam Schlittler’s start Friday night, the Yankees had the best rotation ERA in the big leagues (3.37). The starters had allowed two or fewer earned runs in 11 of their previous 13 games and in 22 of their previous 27.
After throwing 60 pitches in a live batting-practice session on Monday, Fried will be on a pitch count a tad higher than that on Saturday.
“This week’s gone well with the live and two sides [bullpen sessions] around that,” Boone said. “Excited to get him back out there tomorrow.”
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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