NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was unsure of the severity of Max Fried’s blister on his left index finger, a day after the All-Star left-hander left his start after three innings.
“It’s just that (a blister),” Boone said before the Yankees faced the Cubs on Sunday. “So he’ll be kind of leaning into all the modalities and all of the tricks that you try and do to deal with blisters. Then we’ll see how it lines up for what we want to line them up coming out of the break, based on just how that’s recovered.”
Fried allowed four runs — three earned — six hits and a season-high three walks in his shortest start since signing a n eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees in December. Nine of 18 hitters reached base, Fried threw only 39 of 73 pitches for strikes and fell behind with first-pitch balls to nine batters.
The three-time All-Star felt the blister on his 72nd pitch while facing Jon Berti and ended his outing by getting the infielder on a force out.
“I would say it’s still pretty early," Fried said after the Yankees ended the first half with a 4-1 loss to the Cubs.
"We’re fortunate enough to be able to have the break to have a couple more days and see how things heal, but I’m doing everything I can to get back as soon as possible hopefully, not miss time.”
He made four trips to the injured list because of blisters on that finger during his time with the Atlanta Braves. He went 23 days between starts in 2018, 12 days each in 2019 and 2021 and 18 in 2023, including a gap between the regular season and playoffs.
Fried is 11-3 with a 2.43 ERA and become the Yankees ace after Gerrit Cole needed Tommy John surgery. He was 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 15 starts through June 15, but has a 4.33 ERA in his past four outings.
Fried was selected to the AL All-Star team before getting replaced on the roster by Carlos Rodón, who pitched eight innings in Friday’s 11-0 win.
Fried will attend the festivities in Atlanta and the Yankees may start him in a three-game series at AL East-leading Toronto on July 21-23 after opening the second half by visiting the Braves.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Larry Fleisher, The Associated Press
