Two months after going on the injured list, New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried began a minor-league rehab assignment with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Scranton-Wilkes Barre.
Fried, 32, pitched three innings for the Railriders, allowing 2 runs and 5 hits with 3 strikeouts. He gave up one home run to Nate Eaton on an 88 mph cutter to the inner middle of the strike zone. The plan was for the left-hander to throw approximately 50 pitches and he ended with 52.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Fried will make at least one more minor-league start before the team decides whether or not to activate him from the IL.
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“He will go again in five days [on July 22] and ramp up from there,” Boone said, via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “We’ll see at that point if we take him or if he’s ready to come back. We’ll have those conversations. But obviously tonight is another important step for him.”
Fried went on the IL on May 15 with a bone bruise in his left elbow. In a start versus the Baltimore Orioles before being shut down, Fried pitched three innings, giving up 3 runs and 5 hits with 2 strikeouts in 61 pitches. He allowed a combined 11 runs and 17 hits in 14 1/3 innings during his three starts before being sidelined.
The rehab assignment for Fried began after the Yankees announced that Aaron Judge still hasn’t fully healed from the fractured rib that has kept him out of the lineup since May 31. Judge has yet to resume baseball activities which presumably means his return is weeks away.
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At the time his IL stint began, Fried compiled a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts with 50 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings.
The Yankees began the second half of their season after the All-Star break at 54-42, 2.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East.
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