Yankees News: Max Fried continues to make history, joins elite club ft. Justin Verlander

New York Yankees ace Max Fried has arguably been the signing of the offseason as the All-Star pitcher is mounting a series case for the American League Cy Young award in his first season with the Bronx Bombers.

Fried dished another dominant performance from the mound in the Yankees' thumping 13-1 win against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday. Fried went 7.1 innings in the game, allowing just one earned run over six hits and striking out seven hitters.

It was a historic outing from the former Atlanta Braves star as he lowered his season ERA to 1.29. Fried's ERA is the lowest by a Yankees pitcher after 11 starts in a season. According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Fried joined Justin Verlander, Lance Lynn, and Randy Johnson in the list of the lowest ERA by a pitcher after the first 11 starts of the season.

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Max Fried signed an eight-year $218,000,000 contract in the offseason. He was expected to be the second starter for the team behind Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. However, Fried has been a force as a leader of the rotation in Cole's absence.

Max Fried reveals his goal for Yankees after dominant start

Max Fried boasts a league-best ERA with the Yankees this season, and his maiden Cy Young bid is getting stronger after each start. His latest outing took him to 7-0 for the season and Fried said the team's win remains the main goal for him.

"The elements are different [at Coors Field]. It's more about making pitches and making sure you're executing those pitches," Fried explained. "Because the ones that hang and are left over the plate really can beat you.

"It's really about making sure you're staying on top of it... We're in a good position to win games, that's all I can really control. Everything else is nice, but for me, when I take the ball, I really just want us to win. That's been my main goal."

While Max Fried did his thing from the mound, the Yankees offense backed him with a 10-run fifth inning. All the starting hitters registered a hit to tie the series with the decider scheduled for Sunday.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash