New York Yankees Already Found New Ace With Former Cy Young Winner Sidelined

Apr 20, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) leaves a game against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees have found their groove of late, winning six of their seven games last week.

It's been a great start to the season for the Yankees. Despite some ups and downs, they are in first place in the American League East and have found ways to overcome injuries to key players this spring.

A lot of credit has to go to the front office for the depth of the organization to be able to survive multiple starters being out.

New York was aggressive after losing Juan Soto to the New York Mets this winter. The Yankees pivoted nicely with multiple additions to fill out what they hoped would become a more balanced team.

While some of the new faces are performing well, there is one player who has really stood out: Max Fried.

The plans for New York certainly changed a bit this spring after injuries hit the franchise hard. Coming into the campaign, it appeared that the Yankees were going to have one of the best one-two punches at the top of their rotation in the league after signing Fried to a record-setting eight-year, $218 million contract.

However, former AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole suffered an elbow injury this spring that required season-ending Tommy John surgery, opening the door for someone else to lead the staff in his absence.

After the devastating injury to Cole, Fried has stepped up in his absence. This year, the left-hander has gone 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched.

With multiple injuries to the rotation in addition to Cole to start the season, Fried has saved New York early on.

Even though the left-hander has led the rotation, this is a unit that still has some serious concerns. So far, most other pitchers haven’t performed well for the team, which is a concern going forward.

However, with success in October being the end goal for the Yankees, it’s good that they seemingly have a true ace in Fried. The former Atlanta Braves All-Star has some mixed results in the postseason, but is performing well so far in 2025.

In addition to the left-hander performing well as a newcomer, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is also doing quite well in his first season with New York.

After the Yankees' busy winter, it’s good to see some of their newcomers doing well to begin the campaign. Fortunately, Fried has been an ace and has helped carry the rotation early on this season.