Yankees’ Aaron Boone Drops Update on Max Fried

New York Yankees left-hander Max Fried took the mound Thursday night against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium and produced a mixed result that left manager Aaron Boone explaining the decision to pull him after just 3.1 innings.

Fried allowed only one run and struck out seven, yet he needed 80 pitches to record those 10 outs. The high pitch count, driven by long at-bats, prompted Boone to remove him even though the Yankees were in position to complete a series sweep.

After the game, Boone was asked whether Fried’s early exit reflected ongoing work to rebuild stamina following time away.

“No. We were going to go 75, 80-ish tonight with him,” Boone said. “Thought he threw the ball well. A lot of swing and miss. A lot of big deep counts though. Obviously a high pitch count for him at that point in the game. Just some long at-bats. So I was going to give him those two hitters potentially and that was it.”

A follow-up question focused on Fried’s three starts since returning and whether he resembled the pitcher the Yankees signed. Boone pointed to the previous outing as evidence of progress.

“I thought his last start was outstanding. I think last start he threw around 70 pitches, and he was really sharp, got deeper into the game,” Boone added.

“Tonight was a bit of a grind, but he still ends up with six or seven punchouts, so he had the swing and miss going. I think he was just kind of in and out of his delivery a little bit. When he was trying to add or reach for it, he’d kind of spray one. And he was doing that a little bit, and that’s why there were some deep counts, too.”

Fried is in his second season in pinstripes after spending the first eight years of his major-league career with the Atlanta Braves.

Through 18 starts this year, he is 4-4 with a 2.73 ERA, numbers that still project as a reliable rotation piece even if individual nights have required extra management of pitch counts and command.

The Yankees sit 84-62 after 146 games, second in the American League East. They closed the Rockies series with a blowout win highlighted by Anthony Volpe’s seventh-inning grand slam.

Friday they host the New York Mets, giving Boone another chance to evaluate how quickly Fried can stretch his outings as the schedule tightens toward October.

Boone’s comments suggested the organization is not overly concerned by one grind-it-out start, provided the swing-and-miss stuff remains and the delivery inconsistencies are ironed out in subsequent appearances.