BALTIMORE — The Yankees have spent the summer selling patience. Wait on the offense, they said, and one of baseball’s deepest rotations would be there to carry the load in October.
That pitch keeps running into the same problem. Every time a name comes off the injured list, another one goes on.
The Yankees placed Max Fried on the 15-day injured list Tuesday. The reason was a recurrence of the left elbow bone bruise that already cost him more than two months earlier this year.
But manager Aaron Boone chose words meant to calm the fan base.
Look closer, though, and the update reads as only partly good. The relief comes wrapped in a warning that follows the Yankees into the final six weeks of the season.
The same elbow, sidelined for a second time
Fried felt discomfort after his most recent start, a five-inning outing last Thursday against the Seattle Mariners. The left-hander allowed one run on five hits and two walks in a 1-0 home loss. He described that night as a grind and said he did not have his best stuff.
The Yankees first leaned toward letting him make his next start. Fried even threw a normal side session Sunday that went fine. An MRI then showed inflammation, and with a Monday off day in the schedule, the staff changed course.
Pitching coach Matt Blake said the group decided to err on the side of caution. Boone framed the choice the same way, as a bet on the long game rather than a single turn through the rotation.
Why Boone calls it ‘overall good news’
The optimism rests on one key difference from the first injury. In May, Fried was shut down from throwing for weeks. This time, he was playing catch within days and never had to leave a game in pain.
Boone leaned on that contrast when he spoke to reporters before Tuesday’s series opener at Camden Yards. He suggested the early catch could keep the absence short.
“We just kind of collectively decided it’s probably best to make sure we get this calmed down and hopefully keep it a smaller issue,” Boone said.
Boone said it is possible Fried returns by the end of the month, when he becomes eligible to come off the injured list. He tied the club’s confidence to the test results and to how the pitcher looks day to day.
“We’re pretty optimistic, based on the imaging and how he’s doing,” Boone said, adding that the Yankees are being cautious to give themselves the best chance to have Fried healthy the rest of the way.
An outside voice offered mild support. Dr. Spencer Stein, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at NYU Langone, said the recurrence was not unusual. He noted the club’s optimism could point to a less severe injury.
The warning buried inside the relief
The catch is that this is the same elbow, in the same season, for the second time. That fact leaves the Yankees managing a body part that has already flared twice, with no guarantee it stays quiet.
Blake did not hide that concern. He admitted the staff always feared a repeat and said the club will now try to control the problem through workload and delivery adjustments.
“Any injury can be a precursor for another injury,” Blake said. “I don’t think anyone is shocked this cropped up again. Obviously, we didn’t want it to and we’ll try to mitigate it with workload and delivery management.”
Blake called it a little frustrating that it reached this point. He also could not promise Fried would be free of discomfort in the area for the rest of the season.
The stakes are clear in the standings. Through Aug. 19, the Yankees sit at 70-55, second in the AL East. They trail the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by five games and hold a cushion over the Boston Red Sox, with the postseason race tightening.
A rotation still missing its full shape
Fried’s setback keeps the Yankees from lining up their planned front four. The club has been plotting a postseason rotation of Gerrit Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodon and Cam Schlittler, with Will Warren or Ryan Weathers filling the fifth spot.
So far the group has not been whole at the same time. With Fried down, Rodon returned Tuesday from his own elbow inflammation and started against the Orioles. He worked four innings on 66 pitches and gave up one run, a home run by Coby Mayo.
The Yankees still won, 3-1. Trent Grisham drove the night with his sixth home run in 13 games and a tie-breaking two-run single in the seventh. Warren was set to start Wednesday, followed by Cole on Thursday.
Fried’s numbers explain why the caution matters. He is 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA across 15 starts and 86 1/3 innings. In five outings after his July 22 return, he allowed just five runs in 24 2/3 innings, a 1.82 ERA. He is in the second year of an eight-year, $218 million contract and threw a career-high 195 2/3 innings last season.
For now, the Yankees hold to their plan and their hope. Fried keeps throwing, the Yankees watch the elbow by the day, and they wait to learn whether the good half of the news outlasts the warning attached to it.
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