In his second season with the New York Yankees, pitcher Max Fried is using last year’s playoff disappointment as motivation. Fried’s performance in Game 2 of the American League Division Series, where he allowed seven runs to the Toronto Blue Jays and exited in the fourth inning, has lingered with him throughout the offseason.
“Every time that I get to the gym or I pick up a ball, anything I have to do with baseball, it’s definitely a motivating factor,” Fried said. “You want to always keep getting better, learn from your mistakes and make sure that you’re not making the same mistakes again. I’m just trying to remember that feeling.”
Fried had a strong first year with the Yankees after joining from Atlanta. He led Major League Baseball with 19 wins against five losses over 32 starts, posting a .792 winning percentage—the best in the American League. Despite previous concerns about his durability, Fried made a career-high 32 starts and pitched 195 1/3 innings.
He dealt with a blister issue during the summer but did not use it as an excuse for any dip in performance. Manager Aaron Boone praised Fried’s attitude and fit within the team: “His performance speaks for itself, but who he is immediately fit in really well with these guys,” Boone said. “There’s a humility to him for being a great player. In short order, he became a really important part of our culture.”
The Yankees signed Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract in December 2024 after missing out on Juan Soto. General manager Brian Cashman planned for Fried to join Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation. However, Cole missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery.
Cole is now preparing for a possible return by midseason. Fried expressed anticipation about finally working alongside Cole and facing tough opponents like Toronto together.
“I personally think that our group is good enough talent-wise to compete with anyone in the game,” Fried said. “We didn’t have the series that we wanted to. A big part of that was we weren’t able to pitch as well as we wanted to keep us in games. We were behind early and often. Then you’re asking a big task in playoff games for your offense to put up five, six, seven runs.”
Away from baseball, Fried prefers quiet nights at home analyzing hitters’ tendencies while spending time with his girlfriend Reni Meyer-Whalley and their dogs.
As he continues preparations for this season, memories of last October remain fresh for Fried: “It definitely didn’t leave a good taste in our mouths,” he said. “We’re motivated. We want to be able to clean up a lot of the mistakes that we made last year, try to learn from it and be able to get better. Hopefully we’ll get to where we want to go, which is the World Series.”
