Don’t look now, but the New York Yankees could have a possible Cy Young winner brewing. Left-handed pitcher Max Fried has been sizzling in his 2025 campaign, and continues to dominate.
The Yankees bats have been recognized, led by slugger Aaron Judge, who was awarded the American League Player of the Month for March and April 2025. They’ve also had a mostly good start on the mound, as a new ace pitcher is on the horizon.
Fried also claimed the month, winning Pitcher of the Month for March and April. In 37 2/3 innings of work, he only issued nine walks, with 33 strikeouts, 30 hits, and two home runs.
Max Fried in 7 starts with the @Yankees:
6 wins
5 ER allowedSince earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913, the only other MLB lefty to have more wins than earned runs allowed over his first 7 starts with a team was Fernando Valenzuela with the Dodgers in 1981. pic.twitter.com/ihBvWOOAsd
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 3, 2025
Max Fried’s Current Statistics
The left-hander has a perfect record so far this season, sitting with a league-leading six wins, no losses, at a 1.000 win-loss percentage. He leads the league with seven games started, 44 2/3 innings of work, and a 391 ERA+.
Fried also has a 0.940 WHIP, which is ranked 21st in Major League Baseball. He’s struck out 39 hitters and only walked 11 so far. Opponents are batting .187 against Fried.
The left-handed pitcher has had some phenomenal outings, but his most recent start on Friday was a true testament to his profile. Fried faced the Tampa Bay Rays, going seven strong innings of shutout baseball, only allowing one hit.
He struck out six and walked two in 24 batters faced. Fried delivered for the Yankees, resulting in a huge win.
The Metrics Behind the Master
Fried thrives on seven different pitch options. He throws a four-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, changeup, slider, sweeper, and curveball.
His four-seam fastball averages 93.8 mph and maxes out at 98.1 mph. This is his most used pitch followed by the sinker. Fried’s out-pitch is his curveball, which holds a put-away percentage of 30.2%, and a 43.3% strikeout rate.
The curveball drops 66 inches and has a 12-inch horizontal break into right-handed batters.
The left-hander’s secondary put-away pitch is the sweeper. This pitch holds a 28.6% put-away percentage and a 26.6% strikeout percentage. The sweeper moves horizontally at 10 inches and drops vertically at 26 inches.
Fried shows good command with his fastball, and has great confidence in his breaking and off-speed options. He forces weak contact if not erratic hacks. Fried has an average exit velocity of 87.6%.
So far he has a 36.2% hard-hit percentage and a 6.3% barrel percentage. Fried also has a 48% AIR, 52% ground-ball percentage, and a 23.6% flyout percentage.
Fried’s Projections Versus Reality
The Yankees left-handed pitcher was projected to finish with 173 innings of work with a 3.36 ERA, 165 strikeouts, and a 12-9 record.
Within the past five seasons, the Yankees starter maintained a 2.77 ERA, striking out 607 batters in 107 appearances.
So far, Fried is on a good pace to meet and even surpass those projections. With Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the sidelines until next year, someone active needed to step up and take the reins of the rotation.
Max Fried has started his stint in the Bronx on a high, earning $14.5 million this year, and a total of $218 million in eight years. He’ll be pushing for accolades including a possible Cy Young Award in his first year in pinstripes.
Photo Credit: © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
