lefty has landed on the 15-day injured list with a bone bruise in his left elbow, the team announced Friday. Fried exited Wednesday’s start against the after three innings. Fried’s exact return timeline is not yet clear, but the Yankees said it will be a “few weeks” before he gets follow-up imaging that will determine when he can resume throwing.
“Felt like early on he was having a hard time getting loose and getting to that point. It was taking him several pitches in the inning to get to his (release) point,” manager Aaron Boone after the game. “He was feeling a little something in between starts, not all that abnormal to what he deals with throughout the season … In talking with him, (I’m) not that concerned.”
Fried labored through three innings Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk. In his last three starts, Fried has allowed 11 runs on 17 hits and seven walks in only 14 innings. His control has been an issue much of the season, so much so that Fried abandoned his windup four starts ago and began pitching exclusively from the stretch.
“I’m not too worried about a super long-term thing. If I can, I would love to be able to make my next start, but we’ll see,” Fried said (via the ). He added his elbow feels “hyper-extended or banged.”
The Yankees welcomed back from the injured list this past weekend and are expected to get back after two or three more rehab starts. New York’s rotation depth chart currently looks like this:
The Yankees won’t speed up Cole’s return should Fried miss time. Rodríguez, , made two spot starts earlier this season and got the call to bridge the gap between Fried and Cole’s return, if one is needed.
Entering play Wednesday, New York’s rotation ranked second with a 3.06 ERA and first with 5.6 WAR. Schlittler has been one of the best pitchers in baseball and both Warren and Weathers have leveled up amid breakout seasons. Still, losing Fried for even a few starts could be a big blow in what figures to be a tightly contested AL East race.
