Max Fried delivered his best start of the season last night, guiding the Yankees to a dominant 7-0 win as he tied his career-high for strikeouts in a game (13).
He used all of his pitches beautifully, as the left-hander tore apart Baltimore’s lineup without even breaking a sweat in the process.
We might have seen a complete game shutout if the score was closer, but Aaron Boone is going to pick and choose when he utilizes Fried late in games carefully given his inning count.
It was the culmination of some excellent improvements made to his repertoire, as Max Fried has found a new gear in his first season with the Yankees.
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Max Fried Is Mixing It Up In Yankees’ Biggest Stretch of the Season
From July 1st to August 16th, Fried had a 6.80 ERA and 4.63 FIP, relying on his cutter while hitters slugged .502 against it over that stretch.
Knowing that batters were all over his cutter, Fried would shuffle his usage rates around, increasing the number of sinkers and four-seamers thrown to keep hitters off that pitch.
Over his last six starts, Max Fried has dialed the cutter usage down from 31.2% to 17.7%, using his sinker as his primary fastball and throwing all six of his pitches at least 14.5% of the time.
Batters have swung-and-missed way more against Fried over this stretch, his Whiff% over his last six starts is 33% compared to 25.2% on the year beforehand.
The reputation that Fried has developed over his MLB career is that he’s a command over stuff pitcher, he won’t overpower you but he will locate everything beautifully in order to get outs.
In 2025, he’s sneakily shed the reputation of being a command-first pitcher, as Max Fried has both strong command and excellent stuff as well.
All six of his pitches grade out as above-average in terms of Stuff+, and his overall Stuff+ (111) which is the fourth-best mark for any qualified starting pitcher.
His velocity is way up from years past, as the number of pitches at or above 97 MPH this year has blown past any other mark in his career.
Max Fried is throwing way harder than ever before, and the Yankees have also fine-tuned the shapes of his pitches to help him carve through a lineup.
New York has gone 17-9 since August 22nd, and Max Fried has a 1.60 ERA with 1.3 fWAR, which is tied for the highest mark in baseball over that stretch.
He’s helped save their season after being a key instrument in their slump, and if he keeps it rolling in October, the Yankees could go on a deep run.
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