Max Fried's murky injury status raises more concerns about Yankees' pitching  

Fried exited Saturday's 5-2 home loss to the Chicago Cubs because of the blister. He allowed three earned runs on six hits in three innings pitched. It was his shortest start with the Yankees since signing an eight-year, $218M deal with the team in December. 

Fried — who has been selected for the All-Star Game for the third time in his career — sounded unsure about when he could return after Saturday's game. 

"It's too early to tell. The good thing is, we have the break and [can] try to do as much as we can," he said, per MLB.com's Bill Ladson. "As far as timelines, I don't know exactly how this one is going to shake out. A lot of the time, you have to see how it shakes out during the next couple of days."

The All-Star break begins Monday and lasts five days, which should give Fried plenty of time to heal from the blister. However, if it becomes a bigger issue, that would exacerbate the Yankees' pitching problems. 

New York ace Gerrit Cole underwent Tommy John surgery in March. Fellow starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt had the same surgery on Friday, per Garry Phillips of The New York Daily News.

The injury-riddled starting rotation has contributed to inconsistent pitching from New York. Entering Sunday, the Yankees ranked 13th in baseball in ERA (3.82) and 15th in quality starts (35). New York starting pitcher Will Warren allowed six hits and two earned runs in Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Cubs. 

The Yankees (53-43) better hope Fried's injury is minor. Their starting pitching could already be their biggest weakness and prevent them from returning to the World Series.