New York Yankees Top Offseason Acquisition Set To Make Spring Training Debut

It has been a turbulent spring training to this point for the New York Yankees, but some positivity is on the way with the club's signature offseason acquisition, Max Fried, set to make his debut on the mound on Monday night.

Injuries to DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton, along with the situation surrounding disgruntled starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, have set a sour tone for the reigning American League champions. But those negatives will matter a whole lot less if Fried steps up and performs at his usual ace-caliber level this season.

Fried is scheduled to start Monday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The contest will be available to watch on the YES Network with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Fried's acquisition marked Brian Cashman's latest investment in a string of attempts to find a high-end No. 2 starting pitcher behind ace Gerrit Cole.

He's made splashes in this pursuit in the past, including not only Stroman, but also Carlos Rodón, who had somewhat of a bounce-back season in 2024 after a miserable 2023 and still figures to be a key cog in the Yankees' rotation.

Fried comes to the Bronx after spending the entirety of his career to this point as a member of the Atlanta Braves. There, he established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in all of MLB. He famously turned in a dominant start in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series to seal the team's first championship since 1995.

New York hope Fried's championship pedigree will give manager Aaron Boone another elite arm to trust in the postseason behind Cole, as the Yankees have regularly been undone in the playoffs by the starters who follow the team's ace.

Fried finds his success by combining solid strikeout rates with an impeccable ability to induce weak contact. In 2024, he went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 174 innings pitched, and that 3.25 mark was the highest ERA he's allowed in a season since 2019.

According to Baseball Savant, Fried is in the 95th percentile among all pitchers in average exit velocity allowed and in the 96th in ground ball rate.

For his put away pitch, he offers one of the best curveballs in the sport, a huge looping offering with sharp drop that he spins at a rate of 2,840 rpm which induces whiffs at a 37.1% rate.

Moving to a new league where hitters in his own division don't have dozens of reps against him built up over the years could result in his strikeout rate ticking up even more given his elite arsenal.

Fried's outlook for the year is strong, and Yankees fans will get their first glimpse of it today, even if the outing will be short-lived as he ramps up to a full workload ahead of Opening Day.

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