Max Fried injury update is progress but still has him ways away from a Yankees return

Max Fried more than affirmed the Yankees’ confidence in him last year. After New York awarded him with an 8-year, $218 million contract (the highest for a left-hander in MLB history), Fried showed that his stuff was worth every cent. He began the 2025 campaign on a torrid pace, going 11-2 with a 2.27 ERA, including a 9-1 mark with a 1.59 ERA in starts he made after Yankees’ losses.

Similarly, he started off this year looking excellent. But injuries have derailed him twice now. Last year, it was blisters. This year, it was a bone bruise in his left elbow. Last year's blisters caused Fried to log a 6.00 ERA for about two months. This year, the bone bruise is threatening to keep him out close to two months.

Initially, Fried told reporters he was hopeful he would make his next start. But he hasn't even started throwing off a mound ever since exiting that May 13 game against the Orioles. And it appears as if it could be another few weeks (or more) before he takes the bump again for New York.

Max Fried won't pitch for the Yankees until at least the end of June

Fried was shut down from throwing after undergoing imaging with a team physician, and while his description of “the two bones banging” sounded ghastly, Fried avoided significant ligament damage, and surgery. 

But according to Yankees beat reporter Gary Phillips, Fried’s return doesn’t appear imminent. Phillips tweeted Tuesday that Fried is set to throw from 120 feet next week and receive additional imaging. That will determine if he’s ready to begin throwing from a mound thereafter. He previously threw twice from 75 feet.

Mound work would mark an initial stage of his ramp-up process, which could include simulated games, live batting practice, and likely a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees are dealing with multiple injuries, headlined by Aaron Judge’s broken rib that will likely sideline him until August. Gerrit Cole just returned from Tommy John surgery, and for the most part, he's looked like his old self. 

But with the squad enmeshed in a dogfight with Tampa Bay for the AL East’s top spot, every game matters, and the 1-2 punch of Cole and Fried atop of the rotation could be season-altering. The Yankees have yet to see what that duo looks like in action, and when they do, it could be a scary sight for the rest of the league.  

Sadly, as Yankees fans are accustomed to, Fried's injury appears to be one that will be dragged out longer than he and the team led everyone to believe.

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