Every ace experiences the occasional hiccups — Max Fried proved he was no exception last weekend, when he allowed a cushioned lead to slip in a frustrating road loss to the reigning champion Dodgers.
But top-flight starters always bounce back from adversity, and Fried reaffirmed the notion by painting over his dud in Los Angeles with yet another masterpiece in the Bronx. The prized left-hander returned to dominant form on Thursday night, delivering six shutout innings of one-hit ball with seven strikeouts in the Yankees’ 4-0 win over the Guardians.
Less than a week after allowing a season-high six runs in primetime, Fried once again demonstrated why he’s currently the highest-paid southpaw in MLB history. While his first inning of work wasn’t efficient — he threw 28 pitches and gave up his lone hit, a broken-bat single — he still faced the minimum through the next five innings despite navigating deep counts.
“I just want to be able to go out there and go deep into games,” Fried said after the win. “Nice to get to 100 pitches, being able to kind of get through a full outing and coming out with the win. Last time, I let the lead go. So I just wanted to make it a point to keep them in it and hold the lead as long as I could… Not trying to do too much, as far as putting extra pressure. But you just want to win every game you can when you go out there.”
Fried now owns a stellar 1.78 ERA, which ranks third-best in the majors. It’s also the lowest mark by a Yankees pitcher in his first 13 starts of a season since Phil Neikro in 1984 (1.73), according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. So far, so worth every penny of his record-breaking contract.
The exceptional pace Fried has pitched to is new, considering the career numbers shown on his baseball card. But the 31-year-old long been a thorn in the side of hitters. Jazz Chisholm Jr. understands that pain — after the game, he offered his sympathies by saying it “wasn’t fun” to see Fried multiple times each season when the two were division rivals in the NL East for four-plus years.
So far, Fried has handled the big-market expectations with ease and also served as a dependable stopper. He’s now 6-0 with a 0.57 ERA following a Yankees loss, and that level of reliability isn’t something the team is taking for granted. Fried is calm, cool, and collected. Toss in adaptable, too.
“They made him work. I don’t know how many foul balls they had on the night,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Fried. “He had to work for it pretty hard tonight, but I thought the stuff was great. He had a lot of swing and miss going tonight, and he featured a little bit of everything.”
Of the elite American League pitchers in the mix to start this summer’s All-Star Game in Atlanta — where Fried pitched for eight seasons — he certainly deserves to be atop the list. He ranks third in the AL in innings (81.0), seventh in strikeouts (77), seventh in WHIP (0.94), and tied for sixth in opponent average (.196). He’s lined up for another challenge next week, in a road matchup with the Royals.
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