Yankees' Max Fried placed on 15-day injured list with bone bruise in left elbow
Yankees pitcher Max Fried delivers against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 3, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Yankees are looking at an extended stretch without lefthander Max Fried, who was diagnosed on Thursday with what the team has termed “a left elbow bone bruise” after a pair of imaging studies — an MRI exam and CT scan — and an exam with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad.
The club put him on the 15-day injured list, but he more than likely will be sidelined more than a month.
Fried and manager Aaron Boone said there is no ligament damage, but the team has shared the results of the tests with noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache for him to review.
“I’m definitely bummed that I’m going to have to be missing some time, but overall happy that it doesn’t look like it’s going to be anything serious — no surgery required or anything like that,” Fried said before the Yankees opened the Subway Series against the Mets on Friday night at Citi Field. “Never want to go on the IL and miss games, but also understand that the long-term outlook still looks good.”
As for a timetable for his return, Fried said, “I think we’re looking at a little bit of an ambiguous timeline, just understanding that everyone’s bodies are going to heal differently.
“I’m going to get back as soon as I possibly can,” he added. “If it’s a shorter timeline — if I’m feeling good — then I’m going to do everything I can to get back out there, but also give the grace of if it needs a little bit more time, being able to do what I need to do to make sure I’m healthy, that this never happens again and when I come back, it’s for the long haul.”
Whether Fried feels good will not be the only measure used to determine when he can begin throwing a baseball again. The Yankees said he will have further imaging to confirm that the injury has healed before they give him the green light.
Fried said the extra imaging is “due diligence . . . more just to make sure that if I’m feeling good that the imaging is also backing that up, so that we’re not risking any sort of bigger damage down the road.”
Boone said the organization is considering how to address losing the $218 million pitcher from the top of the rotation. He said the Yankees are disinclined to shorten Gerrit Cole’s minor-league rehab assignment to fill Fried’s slot.
Cole is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and the organization has been proceeding cautiously, even though he looked good in his first four minor-league games, saw his fastball touch 99 mph and built himself up to 77 pitches in the last one.
He is scheduled to make his next minor-league start on Saturday, and the Yankees would like him to make one additional one after that before they put him back in the starting rotation.
“The likelihood is two more with him and then we’ll be in a position to roll,” Boone said. “I think he’ll be in the mid-80s [pitch count] this next one and we’ll probably have him repeat that. [We] don’t want to take him off track just for a short-term need. When he’s ready, then he’ll insert him.”
Of Fried’s recovery, Boone added, “[It’s] a matter of what the timeline is going to shake out, but . . . long term, I feel like we’re in an OK spot.”
Fried, who has made 10 starts this season, is 4-3, has a 3.21 ERA and is holding opposing hitters to a .199 batting average. Through his first seven starts, he was 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA. He said he felt this injury only in his last start when it forced him from Wednesday’s loss in Baltimore after three innings.
He explained that the injury is a result of the bones that meet in the elbow striking one another when he hyperextended the joint. “[It’s] kind of the banging of the two bones back there and it just irritated it a little bit,’’ he said, “and now we’re just going to let it calm down.”
He also said he still can feel the injury when he fully extends his left arm and plans to examine his mechanics to see if there is an adjustment that can be made to prevent the injury from recurring.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
