Yankees Ace Wins Award for Defensive Performance

Fried won the award once before, in 2020, while still playing for the Atlanta Braves. That season, Fried also won the NL Gold Glove Award at pitcher.

2025 Winners

The 31-was named along with nine other winners of the defensive award (one for each of the nine fielding positions and a tenth "Multi-Position" player). His fellow winners are:

Catcher: Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants

First base: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves

Second base: Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs

Third base: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati Reds

Shortstop: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

Left field: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

Center field: Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox

Right field: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

Multi-position: Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays

Player of the year: Patrick Bailey, Giants

Team of the Year: Cubs

Though the award has only existed since 2006, Fried becomes the first Yankees pitcher to win one. He joins fellow Yankees Brett Gardner (left fielder, 2010, 2011 and 2017), Mark Teixeira (first baseman, 2014), Aaron Judge (right fielder, 2021) and Jose Trevino (catcher, 2022).

Fried, who had a .925 fielding percentage in the 2025 regular season. He and Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon are both finalists for Gold Glove Awards in 2025, and Fried has won three in his playing career, consecutively, from 2020-2022.

Fried in Pinstripes

Fried was acquired by the Yankees in December 2024 from the Braves, where he had spent his entire MLB playing career beginning in 2017.

In 2025, Fried gave a strong performance once again. Considered one of the Yankees' most consistent aces, he earned a 2.86 ERA over 32 starts with a 19-5 record. He was the MLB wins leader in 2025 with that record, narrowly beating the Red Sox Garrett Crochet and fellow Yankee Carlos Rodon, who each had 18 wins.

Along with Carlos Rodon and Cam Schlittler, Fried is among the Yankees' strongest options heading into 2026 (though Rodon will miss the beginning of the season while he recovers from a recent surgery). They will attempt to shore up both the rotation and the bullpen this offseason among a litany of troublesome injuries, and the question remains: will the Yankees opt for a strong new starter, or call up a promising young guy from the farm system?

In any case, for now at least, they have Max.

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