Yankees get bizarre Max Fried elbow injury diagnosis but it's mostly good news

The common refrain, since the New York Yankees lost Max Fried to elbow woes on Wednesday afternoon, has been that they're uniquely suited to overcome the loss because of all their pitching depth. That's half-true; they can withstand a Fried absence in the short- and medium-term, but they would've absolutely been the worse for wear if his departure was permanent. Thankfully, it turns out Fried wasn't totally off base when he sounded optimistic in the Wednesday postgame.

No, he will not be making his next start. No, he's not totally out of the woods yet. But imaging done on Thursday revealed the extremely odd diagnosis of "left elbow bone bruise," which must have been creating the "hyperextension" and "banging" that Fried complained about this week. Where did the contusion come from?

Notably, Dr. Neal ElAttrache will still review Fried's imaging to make certain there's no ligament damage that was missed on the first go-round (though ... surely that scan was part of this process, too ... right?). Fried will also have additional imaging done in the coming weeks to determine, as long as his ligament is untouched, when he can begin throwing. According to the man himself, the ligament looks good. We'll trust him.

For now, though, this is not a death knell. It's something more than an oddity, but something less than a tragedy.

How will Yankees handle Max Fried's "bone bruise" injury absence?

The Yankees plan to have Gerrit Cole make 1-2 additional rehab starts before any determination on his future is made. That timeline will not change. For now, the rotation includes Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón, Ryan Weathers and Will Warren, with Elmer Rodriguez likely getting another short-term recall to fill the interstitial period without Cole. These things tend to work themselves out. The Yankees will not have to choose between Weathers and Warren anytime soon.

If this group holds up, the Yankees are in excellent hands. If not, things get dicier, and they'll be a bit impatient during Fried's absence.

If things continue to look clean and the ligament in Fried's elbow is untouched, then the Yankees will merely be pressing pause on his season instead of "delete". Hopefully, his command will return with rest and rehabilitation, and he'll look more like the pitcher who carried back-to-back shutouts in Texas and Boston, as opposed to the one who lost his command against the Orioles, Brewers, and Orioles again in a difficult three-start span.

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