The Ny Yankees will place Max Fried on the 15-day injured list Friday because of a bone bruise in his left elbow, a setback that comes one day after he left his start against the Baltimore Orioles after three innings. Fried underwent an MRI and CT scan Thursday before being examined by Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad, and the club said Dr. Neal ElAttrache will also review the imaging for due diligence.
Fried said the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow is intact and that he will not need surgery. He said the injury came from hyperextending the elbow and that he felt “definitely bummed” about missing time, but added that the long-term outlook still looks good. “But overall happy that it doesn't look like it's going to be anything serious or surgery required or anything like that,” Fried said.
The left-hander’s timeline is still unclear. The team said he will have another round of tests in a few weeks, or once he is asymptomatic, to determine when he can start throwing again. Fried called it an “ambiguous timeline” and said every body heals differently. “So, I'm going to get back as soon as I possibly can,” he said.
The injury matters because Fried has been the Yankees’ staff ace since Gerrit Cole went down for the season in March 2025 after Tommy John surgery. The Yankees signed Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract after the 2024 season, and he had lived up to the billing with a 2.86 ERA across 195⅓ innings and 32 starts in an All-Star season without a stint on the injured list. This year he opened with a 2.09 ERA in his first seven starts, though over his previous three outings he allowed 11 runs in 14⅓ innings while striking out 13 and walking seven.
Aaron Boone said the Yankees have not decided who will replace Fried in the rotation, though Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough are possibilities. Boone also said the club will not accelerate Cole’s rehab assignment. Cole will make his sixth rehab start Saturday and is slated for one more before returning, leaving the Yankees to manage one injury while waiting on another arm they have not yet fully regained.
Fried’s own history makes the issue more complicated. He had Tommy John surgery in 2014, made his major league debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2018, then missed nearly three months in 2023 with a strained left forearm and another two weeks in 2024 because of a separate forearm injury. For now, the Yankees are describing this latest problem as something less severe than the scares that have followed him before. The next test will be whether that diagnosis holds once the swelling settles and the club is ready to see him throw again.
