Max FriedNYY · SP

2026 review

Max Fried was a control-and-contact starter who missed a big chunk of the year to the same elbow issue: he went 2.80 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 112.2 IP over 20 GS for NYY, with a 24.0 K% and a 7.6 BB% over 434 BF, and his 27.5 Hard% over 295 BBE was the 48th lowest of 517 pitchers with 100+ BF. A left elbow bone bruise put him on the 15-day IL May 16 (retroactive to May 14) and again Aug 17 (retroactive to Aug 14), 84 regular-season days missed in 2 stints. He was better after the longer absence, a 2.29 ERA in 51.0 IP after activation against a 3.21 ERA in 61.2 IP before it, with his best month a scoreless Mar at 0.00 in 13.1 IP and his worst a 6.91 ERA in 14.1 IP in May. The TDK LABS card tracked the arc: scoreless outings and wins in early May, ace-level stuff with a rising pitch count noted by mid-Aug, then back on the IL days later, and by late Sep a steady, building workload with a control profile the card called elite. Drafted at NFBC ADP rank 50, he finished 182nd of 1472 in the TDK LABS 5x5 value rank, 132 spots below, and 24th of 236 starting pitchers.