Getty

Aaron Boone (l) made an unfortunate announcement about Max Fried (r).

The New York Yankees were turning their season back around after a dismal stretch that saw them fall from seven games ahead atop the American League East on May 28 to a low of 3 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, in second place, on July 8. In that span, the Yankees endured not just one but two six-game losing streaks, dropping 21 games while winning just 15.

Not great. But over the past week, the Bronx Bombers appeared to be getting their house back in order. They came into Saturday’s matinee game at home against the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs on a five-game winning streak and their ace on the mound in lefty Max Fried a 2025 All-Star selection.

But the day did not end well for Fried, and the Yankees’ later announcement could spell trouble for their injury-plagued rotation once baseball resumes after the All-Star break.

Fried Takes Cole’s Place as Yankee Ace

Fried, a former Atlanta Braves ace, was the Yankees’ prize free agent signing in the offseason, inking a $281 Million deal to pitch the next eight seasons in pinstripes — the single largest contract ever granted to a left-handed pitcher. And in fact, only three righties had ever signed richer deals.

Through the first 19 starts, Fried gave the Yankees their money’s worth. When 2023 Cy Young winner and perennial staff ace Gerrit Cole was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery in spring training, It became clear that Fried would need to assume the No. 1 starter’s role — and he did, as well or better than the Yankees could have hoped.

With a league-leading 11 pitcher wins and an MLB-fifth-best 2.27 ERA, Fried became an obvious All-Star pick, though he has elected not to throw in the July 15 game in Atlanta.

But in his final start before the All-Star break, in Saturday’s game against the Cubs, Fried suffered his worst outing as a Yankee, lasting just three innings while giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits. He walked three and stuck out two, the first time since May 17, 2024, that Fried walked more than he struck out in a start, according to StatMuse.

Recurring Issue Ends Fried’s Day Early

On Saturday, Fried came to the mound to start the fourth inning, but could not continue. Manager Aaron Boone pulled him from the game, replacing Fried with righty reliever Ian Hamilton as the Yankees went on to lose 5-2, snapping their winning streak at five.

Not long afterward, with the game still in progress, the Yankees announced that Fried left the game due to a painful blister on the index finger of his pitching hand.

While a blister may not seem like much of an injury as far as the average fan is concerned, finger blisters can make it extremely difficult or even impossible for a pitcher to properly grip and release the baseball at high velocity.

Under those conditions, pitchers generally cannot pitch up to their standards and end up giving up more runs than normal. That is clearly what happened to Fried on Saturday.

The blister is particularly worrying for Fried who has suffered recurring blister issues in his career, in 2018, 2019 and 2023 in particular, as well as in the minor leagues. In 2023, Fried suffered a blister on is index finger in September, ending his season early.

He also went on the 10-day injured list in July, 2019, with a blister on the same index finger.

How long the new blister will keep Fried out of the Yankees rotation was not announced on Saturday. With the All-Star Break, the earliest Fried could take the mound under normal circumstances would be July 18, but thanks to the blister, the Yankees may be waiting for their ace to come back for longer than that.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin