Max Fried’s Strong First Month Highlights Results From Yankees’ Offseason Moves

The New York Yankees ended a successful first month as defending AL Champions for the first time since 2010 on about a 94 to 95 pace, which is similar to last season when they did not possess Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams on the roster along with Aaron Judge’s insanely good start

While the jury is out on how each of those finish statistically, the Yankees are getting fairly decent to mixed results.

Fried seemed to be the one who was nearly guaranteed to be a strong move when the Yankees signed him on an eight-year, $218 million contract – the second-largest contract for a starting pitcher in team history. Only Gerrit Cole holds the distinction with his massive $324 million deal following the 2019 season that was renegotiated after last season.

Fried was expected to step behind Cole but then the 2023 Cy Young Award winner went down with Tommy John surgery on his elbow a year after an elbow injury cost him the first 75 games of the season.

Once Cole went down, the role of number was unofficially anointed to Fried or Carlos Rodon. Rodon has had good moments in recent starts, including Tuesday’s 15-3 win when he took a perfect game and a no-hitter into the fifth inning but Fried can be classified as the ace the Yankees needed and likely expected upon signing him.

Fried’s first start was rocky but mostly because the Yankees committed five errors behind him and the defensive miscues were overshadowed by the nine homers in a 20-9 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers that was the precursor to the extensive torpedo bat discussion that even made network news.

Since then, Fried has been electric and his starts as anticipated as when Cole pitches. He can get strikeouts like the 11 in Detroit on April 9 or he can get groundballs like the 13 in his no-hit bid against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 19.

Either way Fried is pitching the way the Yankees expected and hoped and, in a year, where their rotation has struggled at times, he and Rodon make up a formidable duo at the top of the rotation where the Yankees hope Luis Gil’s return from a lat injury will be like their trade deadline move.

Williams was the other big pitching move as the Yankees did what the Orioles did with getting Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers following the 2023 season – acquire a pitcher entering their final season before free agency.

Williams famously gave up the home run to Pete Alonso in the wild-card game and was traded about two months later. While there may be questions about his comfort level in New York, the bigger questions are about his ability to close out games.

At the moment, those questions were answered poorly and the Yankees responded by pulling Williams from his closer’s role. It was expected when he allowed three runs without getting an out last Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays and made it official two days later.

By pulling the plug at this point, it seems the Yankees expect Williams to return to the role and perhaps throwing 14 encouraging pitches in a 1-2-3 eighth inning Monday is the first encouraging step for someone who is massively struggling with his fastball and changeup and is mostly a two-pitch pitcher like Rodon in 2023.

Bellinger’s first month can be described as streaky. There were concerns about his exit velocity even as he batted .286 with the Chicago Cubs and so far the streakiness is resulting in his average being around .200 to .210.

Bellinger was 7-for-30 through his first eight games but he endured a lengthy skid that pushed the average to .173 but recently Bellinger seems to be moving past the slump, though it remains to be seen if he can approach what he did with the Cubs.

One thing the Yankees know is they are getting a good glove by Bellinger, who can play all three positions in the outfield effectively. And it was highlighted by his game-ending catch against the Kansas City Royals on April 16 when he made a diving catch after taking a shaky route to the ball.

As for Goldschmidt, age and his declining numbers were a question when the Yankees signed him shortly before Christmas after an age-37 season when he batted a career-worst .245. The Yankees were encouraged by his final few months and signed him to a one-year contract after struggling for production out of first base last season.

While the power has only resulted in two homers, Goldschmidt has been well over .300 for most of the first month and has even reached the .380s with his average on a few occasions.

Like Goldschmidt he is steady with the glove and is part of an improved defense after defense cost the Yankees at times last season, including in Game 5 of the World Series during a five-run collapse.

The four significant additions were made to offset the blow of losing Juan Soto to the Mets and they also are supplementing a lineup that fields five to six homegrown players on a recent basis, highlighted by Judge, who has spent the first month well over .400.

And so far the good start is featuring various mixed results from their quartet of big additions.