A pair of Yankees aces are proving that old dogs can in fact learn new tricks

A lot has been made about the New York Yankees pitching development prowess when it comes to younger arms. In the bigs, Cam Schlittler's emergence as a flame-throwing ace and Will Warren's surprising early-season dominance have driven most of the headlines. Down on the farm, prospects Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez draw rave reviews. But the most impressive work might come with the oldest guys on the staff: Max Fried and Gerrit Cole.

While slightly overshadowed by Schlittler's brilliance, Fried has gotten off to a Cy Young-caliber start himself. He rolled through his first four starts of the year before suffering a slight hiccup on April 16 against the Los Angeles Angels. Then, taking the mound on April 22 against the Boston Red Sox, he flipped a switch.

Fried had walked two batters with the bases empty over the first two innings in Fenway, with the second inning walk almost resulting in a run. After wiggling out of a second and third, no-out jam, pitching coach Matt Blake approached him, saying, "Hey, it's not working. When are you going to cut it out?"

The "it" Blake was referring to was Fried's windup, and the veteran southpaw dropped it, pitching exclusively out of the stretch from that point forward. He laid waste to the Red Sox lineup, going eight innings and striking out a season-high nine batters. Over his last three starts, his strikeouts are up to 9.31 per nine, and he owns a 1.40 ERA.

Meanwhile, on the comeback trail, Cole has something new in store with his return to action coming around the corner. While Fried has ditched his windup entirely, Cole has added to his, now utilizing an overhead motion to build his rhythm.

"I don't really have a good answer for you," Cole said while discussing the new windup motion. "Throwing the ball with [Yankees PT and rehab coordinator] Joe Bello last summer and just doing this, and hey, it felt kinda good. It keeps the rhythm going. I got a lot of positive feedback, you know, people like it, not that I make changes because people like it, but it's nice to hear. I just generally enjoy the rhythm of it. I think it keeps the tempo of the delivery upbeat and fluid."

Cole then went on to detail some less-extreme changes in hand placement he's undergone throughout his career, dating back to his college days at UCLA.

Max Fried, Gerrit Cole tweaking deliveries prove Yankees' pitching apparatus is a well-oiled machine

The results from Fried have been stellar, and it goes to show the level of trust and credibility Blake has with the staff. Fried has three top-five Cy Young finishes on his resume. It'd be easy for the 32-year-old to eschew any coaching and continue to operate the way that he always has, especially when there really was no big blowup to serve as a catalyst for change.

Perhaps, though, that's because Blake's watchful eye prevented that. He's been renowned for his work for a while now, and maybe he caught the issue with Fried's windup and communicated it to him before the lefty got taken advantage of.

Cole's journey will be interesting, since his rehab has him working with the minor league staff to solidify his new windup. With him set to return within the coming weeks, we won't have to wait long to see what kind of dividends this tweak pays.

It's easy to look at the fact that New York has far and away the best pitching staff in the majors (with a 2.95 ERA) and take stock of what is motivating that to see how great the coaching has been on that side of the ball.

The only black mark truly has been Luis Gil's struggles, but in a way that also proves the pitching development's prowess. Gil was awful during his short big league stint, and frankly, could have put up even worse results, despite beginning his season down in Scranton trying to work through things.

The issue isn't that the Yankees couldn't fix Gil. The jury is still out on that one. Instead, it's that we weren't talking about a simple adjustment to get him back on track. He needs a complete overhaul, but the injuries to Cole and Carlos Rodón necessitated that the Yankees turn to him quicker than what was needed to fix his myriad of issues. Now, with time, we'll see how things play out for the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year.

In the meantime, we can have faith that when challenges arise, Blake will be quick to address them, while also having confidence that when the organization has to reach down for a minor league arm, they'll be getting one whose talents have been maximized by a pitching apparatus that is in sync on every level. It's a tremendous advantage, and one that could result in much good fortune in 2026.

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