Yankees manager Aaron Boone expressed uncertainty about the severity of the blister on the left index finger of Max Fried, the team’s star pitcher. The injury occurred one day after Fried left the game after three innings.
In his shortest outing since he signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees in December, Fried allowed four runs, three earned, six hits and a season-high three walks. Nine of the 18 batters reached base, and only 39 of his 73 pitches were strikes. The three-time All-Star felt the blister on his 72nd pitch, while facing Jon Berti, and finished his performance by forcing the infielder to get out.It’s just that (a blister). So he will lean on all the modalities and all the tricks that are tried to deal with blisters. Then we’ll see how he lines up for what we want to line up coming out of the break, based on how he has recovered.
Aaron Boone
During his time with the Atlanta Braves, Fried was on the injured list four times due to blisters on that finger. He was out 23 days between starts in 2018, 12 days in 2019 and 2021, and 18 in 2023, including a gap between the regular season and the playoffs. Fried has an 11-3 record with an ERA of 2.43 and became 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 last four outings. Fried was selected for the American League All-Star team before being replaced on the roster by Carlos Rodón. Fried will attend the festivities in Atlanta and the Yankees could assign him an opening in a three-game series against Toronto, leader of the American League, from July 21 to 23, after opening the second half by visiting the Braves.Each case is unique. I definitely didn’t want to do too much and wanted to address it, hoping it wouldn’t become something really big. It was definitely uncomfortable enough that I didn’t want to risk more, and that was going to affect my pitches. So, yes, the next few days will be important to assess how much time I need.
Max Fried
