In baseball, as in life, sometimes the smartest decisions are the ones that don’t make sense right away.
When the New York Yankees handed Max Fried a $218 million deal this past offseason, many fans blinked in disbelief. They already had Gerrit Cole, a supposed ace rotation, and glaring holes in the offense after losing Juan Soto.
It felt like buying a luxury watch when the roof was leaking.
But the front office, led by Brian Cashman, seemed to know something the rest of us didn’t: starting pitching depth is more fragile than it looks.
And now, just a couple months into the season, that decision is looking less like a splurge and more like a masterstroke. Because Max Fried hasn’t just been good—he’s been everything the Yankees desperately needed.
A rotation ravaged by injury and inconsistency
The Yankees entered the season with five arms they believed in. Today, only one is standing tall.
Gerrit Cole, the anchor of the staff, has been sidelined by Tommy John surgery. Luis Gil, who showed flashes of promise, remains out with a lat strain. Marcus Stroman, signed to provide veteran reliability, has been both ineffective and injured, nursing a knee that won’t stop barking.
Carlos Carrasco’s tenure went from hopeful to humbling—he’s now pitching in the minors after being DFA’d. Even top prospect Will Warren has struggled with inconsistency.
It’s been a slow-motion collapse, like a carefully stacked row of dominoes tipping over one by one.
And yet, through all the chaos, there’s been one constant: Max Fried. The calm eye of the storm.
The ace the Yankees didn’t know they’d need
Fried hasn’t just stabilized the rotation—he’s redefined it. After another strong outing against the Mariners, where he allowed just a single run over five innings, his ERA sits at a jaw-dropping 1.11.
He’s 6-0, with 56.2 innings of elite run prevention. He’s not blowing hitters away with triple-digit velocity, but rather slicing them up with surgical precision. His command? Nearly flawless. His curveball? A devastating piece of artistry.
Max Fried has allowed just TWO earned runs over his last 32.2 innings pitched😳
Fried has been unbelievable in Yankee pinstripes…#Yankees pic.twitter.com/BJ7wqtBzNb
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) May 14, 2025
Opponents step into the box looking for answers and leave muttering to themselves.
Fried doesn’t pitch with flash. He pitches with feel, with patience, and with a deep, intuitive understanding of how to disrupt timing. It’s the kind of pitching that feels more like jazz than warfare.
Stepping up in a time of crisis
When Cole went down, the Yankees needed someone to be that guy—the one who takes the ball when things are unraveling and simply says, “I’ve got this.”
Fried is doing that every fifth day.
Carlos Rodón has emerged as a strong co-star, overcoming his early-season issues with command and the long ball. But it’s Fried who’s carried the staff.
Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he finds ways to get outs. He doesn’t crumble with traffic on the bases. He doesn’t unravel under pressure. He does what true aces do: gives his team a chance, every time.
A long season ahead, but a bright spot shines
The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Fried probably won’t finish the year with a 1.11 ERA—nobody does. But what he’s already done matters.
He’s kept the Yankees from spiraling during a stretch where they easily could have. He’s become a tone-setter in the clubhouse and a beacon of dependability in a year defined by instability.
In a way, he’s like the last working lightbulb in a flickering hallway—maybe not the one you expected to count on, but absolutely the one you needed.
For fans, Max Fried is already worth every penny. Not just for the wins, but for the peace of mind he brings to a team constantly flirting with chaos.
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