Jul 29, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) reacts after the top of the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Yankees Star Pitcher Can't Catch a Break

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Joseph Randazzo | Last updated Aug 23, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Max Fried did his job. He needed to be better than he had been the previous week, and he was. The problem was that the New York Yankees as a whole were not.

Having come off another stinker against the St. Louis Cardinals, Fried corrected course. The result was exactly what an ace is required to do, even if the offense took the night off. He got his outs, inning after inning, hoping at one point his lineup would show up. What happened instead was a brand new squirrel friend got closer to home plate than any of his teammates did on the basepaths.

bro tried to aura farm a squirrel https://t.co/DEmNNABUn3 pic.twitter.com/cyFGXRP8lS
— max fried respecter (@jonmoxIeys) August 23, 2025

Fried finished his night going six scoreless innings. He struck out seven and walked three. If there was one knock on him, it was that he wasn't Bryan Bello, who had just been slightly better than him.

After the game, Fried mentioned the key to his success. It was about throwing an array of pitches against Boston and cutting down on his fastball:

"I was using both sides of the plate, using all my pitches and just getting back to pitching," Fried said. "I feel like a lot of times I was just trying to maybe use the fastball too much. I wanted to get back to throwing a bunch of different pitches in different counts and being OK with taking some gambles."

That execution led to a lot of soft contact. Boston had nothing against his sinker, curveball, cutter, fastball, changeup, sweeper, and slider, having averaged an exit velocity of 78.7 MPH against all seven pitches. His bread and butter were the sinker and the curveball. He generated whiffs on everything, but got seven with the sinker and six with that stunning curveball that helped ink Fried the biggest contract by a lefty starter in the sport's history.

The difference between this start and last week's, against a lesser opponent no less, was night and day. He had one ball in play hit off him tonight over 100 MPH. Nate Eaton barreled a fly ball off Fried in the fifth inning. It went 391 feet and came off the bat at 104.6 MPH, but it died in the outfield, finding a glove.

Fried was effectively batting practice in St Louis. He gave up seven earned runs. He had eight balls put in play against him that were over 100 MPH, and only two yesterday.

That pitch mix may have been a big reason why he bounced back. In St. Louis, his three main pitches on the night were the cutter, curveball, and sweeper. Against Boston, he cut back on the cutter usage, going sinker, curveball, and cutter. That cutter got hit all over the park with the Cardinals averaging a 104.2 MPH off of it, as opposed to the second game at home against Boston, where they averaged 78.2 MPH against his sinker.

The most excitement on a night where the Yankees lost again to their division rival may have been their ace's encounter with the squirrel. He said of his new pal:

"That's the first time it's happened to me," Fried said. "My first reaction was, 'Don't do anything that might embarrass you.' I thought it was just going to run around, but it came straight to me and went in the little hole I created on the mound."