Yankees Make Surprising Pitching Move After Max Fried Injury Update

The Yankees are turning to an opener Friday night in Atlanta, and it won’t be the starter most fans at Truist Park expected.

Ian Hamilton gets the ball in Game 1 of the series against the Braves. Will Warren is lined up for Saturday, and Marcus Stroman will close things out Sunday, according to the Yankees' game notes.

What’s missing? Max Fried.

The Yankees had delayed announcing their rotation earlier this week while monitoring how Fried’s blister was healing. He exited his last start after just 4⅓ innings because of it, and the team clearly opted to play it safe. Instead of an emotional return in Atlanta, where Fried spent most of his career, he’s being held back, most likely for the series in Toronto.

Fried said the blister was healing fairly well, and he expected to avoid the injured list during media availability at the All-Star Game on Monday.

This weekend would’ve been Fried’s first start back at Truist Park since leaving the Braves after eight seasons. He was a first-round pick there, helped win a title in 2021, and built a reputation as one of the league’s steadiest arms.

Aaron Boone would have been inclined to give Fried that moment if possible.

But Fried's been just as important to the Yankees, too. He went into the All-Star break with an 11–3 record, 2.43 ERA, and 113 strikeouts in 122 innings across 20 starts.

So, it’ll be Hamilton opening Friday night.

In 31 appearances and 36⅓ innings, the right-hander he owns a 3.47 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 40 strikeouts, holding hitters to a .182 average and striking out 27.2% of batters faced — workhorse numbers

The Yankees will likely go bullpen-heavy in the series opener, and with Warren untested and Stroman inconsistent lately, they may need to patch things together all weekend.