The blister issue that forced Yankees ace Max Fried to miss a reunion start with the Braves last weekend seemed like old news. With an effective fastball-cutter combo, the veteran southpaw retired the first 10 batters faced against the division-rival Blue Jays on Wednesday night, resembling a Cy Young candidate in familiar rhythm.
But before exiting with one out in the fifth and a one-run deficit, cameras caught Fried repeatedly rubbing his fingers on his undershirt. There was also some blood on his pinkie. So, it was safe to assume that a flare-up of his recent blister — plus a comedy of fielding errors — contributed to New York's hideous 8-4 loss to Toronto at Rogers Centre.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing the strike zone, denied any trouble with Fried's blister when asked after the game. Fried then said as much, contending that he cut his finger late and it was unrelated to the blister.
"Coming in, first start off the break for me, I just wanted to make sure I put us in a good position," Fried said after the loss. "Let the lead up early and frankly, just didn't do my job tonight. Walking guys definitely isn't going to help. And throwing the ball away and having two more come in — especially battling and letting it go — is frustrating. For me, that can't happen."
Whether or not Fried was truly hampered by a blister in his later innings, the results of his outing showed a pitcher working with a weaker arsenal. Of the 102 total pitches thrown, he used his fastballs at a season-high 79.4 percent clip. The average mark for his fastball-cutter-sinker mix was at 59.7 percent entering Wednesday.
Fried didn't rely much on his secondary off-speed pitches. Consequently, he threw his sweeper just four times. He didn't throw a curveball until his 45th pitch, and his first changeup arrived 18 pitches later. He didn't even bother trying his slider, as rare as it is.
The pitches that require an uncomfortable grip on the seams and can cause blisters were the ones Fried avoided against the Blue Jays. While he didn't make excuses for the poor performance, the assumption of a reaggravated blister remains.
Of course, Fried struggled to rediscover his early groove for other reasons. The Yankees committed a whopping four errors, and Fried was responsible for two of them.
After a wild pitch in the fifth that allowed a pair of runners to advance into scoring position, Fried was trapped on a weak comebacker along the third-base line that produced an awkward toss home. The play at the plate couldn't be made by catcher J.C. Escarra, who lost the ball behind him and watched both runners score.
"Went for it, thought I might've been a little closer to the plate," Fried said. "I was running across the line. If I keep going, I'm going to throw it at him, so I just tried to throw around him. A tough angle and just not a good throw… We've put together some really good games defensively this year, and haven't shown it so far. But we believe that."
The nightmare resumed in the sixth. With the score once again tied — thanks to an Aaron Judge two-run home run — Fried surrendered a leadoff triple to Ernie Clement after his fly ball to right was surprisingly lost in the sky by Cody Bellinger. Moments later, Myles Straw ripped a double down the left-field line, giving the Blue Jays a lead they didn't relinquish again.
At the moment, there's no reason to believe that Fried won't make his next start, which is scheduled for next Tuesday against the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
Fried now owns a 2.62 ERA across 127.1 innings (21 games) this season, and his 116 total strikeouts rank 13th among qualified AL starters.
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