Erik Boland: Yankees optimistic about Max Fried's elbow injury on night Carlos Rodon returns
Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon delivers during the second inning against the Orioles on Tuesday in Baltimore. Credit: AP/Stephanie Scarbrough
BALTIMORE — The Yankees collectively breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday when it came to Max Fried.
For one day, anyway.
Fried, who missed two months earlier this season with a bone bruise in his left elbow, was put back on the injured list Monday night with what the club characterized as the same ailment — a bone bruise.
But manager Aaron Boone, speaking before Carlos Rodon came off the IL sooner than anticipated as a corresponding move to the Fried news to start Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, an eventual 3-1 victory, said it was “inflammation” in the elbow rather than the pitcher dealing with the exact same injury.
“(They) MRI’d it, it’s just low-level inflammation as a result of the bone bruise,” Boone said. “I was told that it was good news and, based on how he was doing, (he) was probably in line to take his next start.”
Fried had been scheduled to start Wednesday night’s game, which now will be started by Will Warren.
“I think we’re just being cautious with this to give ourselves the best chance to have him healthy for the rest of the way,” said Boone, who later said it’s “possible” Fried is sidelined for the minimum 15 days of the IL stint. “The hope would be that he gets back on the mound in these next several days…And, again, hopefully it leans toward a shorter timeline.”
The Yankees should always be treated skeptically when it comes to discussing injuries — they generally make the Bill Belichick-era Patriots seem outright forthcoming in the information-disclosure department — but in this case Boone’s serial optimism isn’t without cause.
Start with the fact that Fried, who with the first injury was shut down from throwing of any kind for multiple weeks after going to the IL, was cleared to play catch Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees would not have Fried, 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 15 starts this season, throw the day after putting him back on the IL if the severity of this injury compared to the first time around.
Not to mention the fact that the Yankees very nearly had Fried, who first felt some discomfort during his 88-pitch outing against the Mariners last Thursday at the Stadium when he allowed one run over five innings, make Wednesday’s start.
None of those things were in play with Fried’s first injury, known right off the bat to be serious.
“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.
Now, none of that means there isn’t reason for concern.
The inflammation, as Boone said, came about because of the bone bruise. Though Fried mostly threw well in his five starts after coming off the IL — 0-1 but with a 1.82 ERA — any pitcher coming off an elbow, arm or shoulder injury will always be viewed with a degree of worry.
“Obviously, any injury can be a precursor for another injury, so I don’t think anyone’s, like, shocked that this cropped up again,” pitching coach Matt Blake said Tuesday. “You’re hoping to mitigate it with workload management and delivery management, things along those lines. A little frustrating that we got to this point, but at the same time, knowing how far he pitched with a little bit of this before, maybe getting in front of it this time will shorten the turnaround time in getting him back out there.”
Rodon, whom the Yankees initially planned to make one more rehab start, instead activated the lefthander before Tuesday’s game to ostensibly take Fried’s rotation spot. Rodon, who came into the night with a 3.30 ERA in just nine starts — the result of two different IL stints — showed enough against the Orioles to demonstrate the Fried injury doesn’t have to be a significant blow to the rotation. A rotation that, despite the number of injuries it has sustained this season, has been among the best in the sport.
On a pitch count of roughly 70, Rodon, throwing 66 pitches, allowed one run over four innings. He fit back into a rotation that entered the night with the best ERA in the majors (3.38), a starting group in which its members have now allowed three earned runs or fewer in 98 starts this season, their most such starts through their first 125 games of a season in franchise history.
“Hopefully, we get through it and we’re good to go,” Boone said of his concern level with Fried. “But, I mean, it’s a pitcher and arm and elbow and you never know for sure.”
Reminiscent to a degree to something Boone’s predecessor, Joe Girardi, used to say when it came to what appeared to be “minor” injuries.
“You always worry,” Girardi said. “Until they’re actually back out there.”
On the surface, the Yankees received as good as news as they could have hoped for regarding Fried.
But low concern doesn’t mean no concern, either.
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.
