High School Teammates Flaherty, Fried Face Off For First Time As Tigers Host Yankees

Jack Flaherty and Max Fried were teammates at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. But on Wednesday, they pitch for opposing teams as the Detroit Tigers play the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

From high school teammates to MLB starters, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty will share a special moment Wednesday at Comerica Park.

As the Detroit Tigers host the New York Yankees at 1:10 p.m. ET, Flaherty will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers and Fried gets the start for the Yankees, his new team. It's the first time they'll start the same game for opposing teams in their MLB careers.

Flaherty and Fried were teammates at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles before becoming first-round picks. Fried went No. 7 overall in the 2012 MLB Draft to the San Diego Padres, the St. Louis Cardinals picked Flaherty No. 34 overall.

Former high school teammates, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty, will start against each other today for the first time in their MLB careers 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CPfd42uhjH

— MLB (@MLB) April 9, 2025

“That will be a lot of fun,” Fried said, per Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “Throughout our careers, we’ve been super supportive of each other. Just never lined up against each other on the same day, so there will be a lot of competitive juices. But at the end of the day, I’m going to go out there and do what I can to try to win the game, and he’s going to do the same. We might be on the same field, but we’re facing two different lineups. So it’s not like I’m going straight up against him.”

Fried signed the largest contract ever for a left-handed pitcher in December, agreeing to an eight-year $218 million deal with the New York Yankees. He spent the first eight years of his MLB career with the Atlanta Braves, winning the 2021 World Series, finishing top five in NL Cy Young voting twice, and posting a 3.07 ERA in 884.1 innings.

Flaherty broke out during the 2018 season, when he finished fifth in NL rookie of the year voting. He was even better the next year for the Cardinals, pitching to a 2.75 ERA and an NL-best 0.96 WHIP across 196.1 innings. Flaherty has bounced around since being traded in 2023, spending time with Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tigers.

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