Erik Boland: Yankees finally have Gerrit Cole and Max Fried atop their rotation, but offense continues to hold them back
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole delivers against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning in Game 1 of a split doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
A shame Max Fried and Gerrit Cole can’t hit, too.
For all the hoopla and hallelujahs relating to the pair of top-of-the-rotation pitchers healthy together simultaneously for the first time in their respective careers in pinstripes, it somewhat obscured what continues to be a drawing-blood-from-a-stone Yankees offense.
That excitement, of course, was not without cause as both threw like aces in a doubleheader split against the Pirates at the Stadium on Wednesday.
But even serially glass-half-full manager Aaron Boone, appropriately giddy over the performances of Cole and Fried, acknowledged the issue of his offense, floundering as ever without three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge.
“We’ve got to improve there,” Boone said. “I feel like I’ve said that a lot here over the last month … for us to reach our peak, we gotta get some guys going and be a more consistent attack night in and night out.”
Boone, indeed, has said some form of that since Judge went on the injured list June 5 with a broken rib. Judge last played in a game on May 31 and, at the time, the Yankees had one of the best offenses in the sport.
When it comes to the rankings in most major statistical categories of note, they still do.
Though the drop-off without Judge has been extreme.
Through May 31, the Yankees were 36-23, averaging 5.2 runs per game and hitting .243 with a .770 OPS. Without Judge, they’re 21-22, averaging 4.1 runs per game and hitting .226 with a .686 OPS.
There was little in the way of encouragement from that end of things on Wednesday.
Pirates righty Mitch Keller toted a 5.14 season ERA into his Game 1 outing – including a 7.03 ERA in his previous 11 starts – and threw five scoreless innings in Pittsburgh’s 5-3 victory. The Yankees’ three runs came on Ben Rice’s 30th homer of the season, a three-run shot in the seventh.
In their 2-0 victory in the nightcap, the Yankees amassed all of two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless thrown at them by righthander Bubba Chandler, who hauled a 4.77 ERA into the day.
Not the greatest of signs with the Yankees set to face two tough lefties this weekend in Philadelphia – Jesus Luzardo (9-4, 3.43) on Friday and Cristopher Sanchez (12-4, 2.71) on Sunday (the Phillies haven’t yet said who will start Saturday).
Still, the sputtering offense was barely a topic by day’s end Wednesday, and the Yankees could be excused for rightly luxuriating in the return of Fried and what that could mean, and should mean, for the top of their rotation.
The enthusiasm was palpable in the clubhouse after Cole, though touched for a pair of homers in the first game, was electric across a season-high seven innings in which he struck out a season-high 11.
Fried, on a pitch count of roughly 60 after throwing 52 pitches in his one and only rehab start the previous Friday, somehow made it through five innings. The lefthander, throwing 57 pitches, allowed one hit, one walk and struck out seven, retiring the final 12 batters he faced.
“Obviously, we’ve been looking forward to that,” rotation member Will Warren said of Cole-Fried at the top of the rotation. “Now they’re both healthy and ready to rip, so I think you saw a master class today.”
Cam Schlittler, the hands-down 2026 ace so far, has made a point of constantly being in both Cole and Fried’s ears from the time he was called up to the majors a year ago this month, pumping the two veterans for advice and/or information (Schlittler has done the same with veteran lefthander Carlos Rodon, currently on the IL, as well).
After Wednesday’s second game, Schlittler said he was “pumped” watching Cole and Fried at last do their thing together.
“To have him and Gerrit back, they’re two aces, right?” Schlittler said. “Same thing with Carlos, when he comes back, you’ve got three aces.”
Schlittler – who as a sidenote refuses to refer to himself in those terms because he feels he hasn’t performed at that high level in the majors for as long a time as the aforementioned trio has – added, “I’m excited to see what we can do” as a rotation.
As an organization, the Yankees were over-the-moon excited as soon as Fried signed his eight-year, $218-million free agent contract before the 2025 season, visions of the lefthander pairing with Cole as one of the best, if not the best, 1-2 rotation combos in baseball.
It took nearly two years, but all got a glimpse of what that looks like on Wednesday.
For future opponents, it was scary.
For the Yankees, it was pure bliss.
Now, about the offense …
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
