$218M Yankees star’s strong outing vs. Rays impresses Aaron Boone

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was all praise for left-handed star Max Fried after his dominant outing against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Bombers in Dec 2024. This was the fourth-largest pitching contract in MLB history and the biggest for a southpaw.

The former Atlanta Braves ace has been firing on all cylinders this season with the Yankees. Fried registered the sixth win of his 2025 MLB campaign on Friday night. He is now 6-0 for the season with a 1.01 ERA, 39 strikeouts and 0.94 WHIP. The 2024 AL pennant winners are 7-0 in games where Fried has started on the mound.

After their 3-0 shutout victory in the series opener against the Rays, manager Aaron Boon showered praise on Max Fried for his seven scoreless frames, which set the tone for yet another Bombers victory this season.

"Just more of what always impresses me is that just the different ways he can beat you. You know there were couple innings where he was kind of reigning in his command a little bit.

"But you know some of the innings he is ripping of some good breaking balls, the others he is adding and subtracting on his heater. You saw last inning he really started taking a lot off some pitches. So, he's just so versatile out there and it continues to show up for us," Aaron Boone said

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Manager Aaron Boone continued his postgame press conference and praised the rest of the unit for the win on Friday night. Yankees 1B, Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, which were the only runs scored by either team in the series opener.

Yankees ace Max Fried is adjusting well in the Bronx

In a postgame interview on Friday, Max Fried reflected on how comfortable and well-adjusted he feels in the Bronx since signing with the Yankees during the 2024 MLB offseason.

"Just my comfortability in this room. We have got great teammates who have welcomed me since day one in spring and you know just being able to go out there and develop those relationships and then being able to know that those guys have my back out there, just makes my job way easier," Fried said

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Fried will be making his next start against the San Diego Padres at Yankee Stadium on May 7.

About the author

Karan has been a baseball sports betting expert, analyst and content strategist at Sportskeeda since 2022. He holds a Master's degree in Sports Management from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked with the VCU Rams baseball team as a trackman analyst. He started following the sport at 18, watching postseason on television.

Karan is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers owing to their successful history in the sport, and their consistent performances at the highest level. He admires Mookie Betts’ on-field defensive and offensive prowess, along with his off-field charitable exploits, while Bruce Bochy is his favorite coach.

The Mets’ miraculous rally from a two-run deficit in the 1986 World Series Game 6 in the bottom of the 10th inning despite being two outs and two strikes down is his all-time favorite baseball moment.

Karan’s strengths are player profiling and technical deep dives, for which he always refers to reliable sources such as the social media handles of the best MLB analysts.

When not strategizing, he likes to read, listen to music, go for a run, and watch sit-coms.

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Edited by Brad Taningco