After signing an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees, Max Fried has been an ace in 2025. Through 19 starts, Fried has averaged ~6.1 IP/start with a 2.27 ERA and 2.98 FIP, helping fill a chasm in the Yankees’ rotation left by Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil’s pre-season injuries.
Fried has consistently been one of the best run-preventers in MLB, leading all starters in ERA since 2020. In 2025, however, he has made some adjustments to his arsenal to help adjust to a new ballpark, league, and organization.
Fried has retained some classic features of his arsenal, such as his slow curveball and hard cut-fastball, while adjusting other pitches to suit their intended purposes. This has led Fried to develop one of the deepest arsenals in baseball, a massive advantage only further optimized by his elite control and command.
Pitch Movement
As mentioned earlier, Fried has made some changes to his arsenal while retaining most of his strengths: high ground-ball rates, weak contact, and limiting home runs – all while striking out more batters than league average.
Between each of Fried’s seven pitches, a few changes stand out in 2025.
- Adding a true four-seam – Fried has separated his hard-cut fastball from a more traditional four-seam with higher velocity and carry – both pitches return a .265 and .262 SLG, respectively.
- More drop on sinker – changed from true two-seam to heavy sinker similar to fellow Yankee Carlos Rodon’s new “one-seam sinker” – thrown primarily against lefties, elite 11.0 SwStr% and 69.0% ground-ball rate overall.
- More sweeper/curveball separation – more carry/gloveside break on sweeper, curveball relatively unchanged but higher spin rate – both return elite 37.2 and 36.3 CSW%, respectively.
With these changes, Fried has posted career highs in Stuff+ on most of his pitches and his highest Location+ overall since 2022. Yankees pitching development has often emphasized high-grading stuff in determining pitch usage, and Fried’s extensive arsenal of great pitches has kept this a strength.
Overall, Fried’s arsenal changes have improved his run prevention in 2025. Still, it’s worth considering how these changes affect Fried’s various game level results and what to expect as the season continues.
Game Level
Fried has always been a master of obtaining ideal contact. This hasn’t changed in 2025, with Fried continuing to post above-average hard-hit, ground ball, and barrel rates. Some of his pitch usage changes, however, have led to slight changes in some batted ball categories.
While Fried has continued generating weak contact, he’s also generated more pop-ups and fewer pulled fly balls than last year, in exchange for slightly fewer ground balls. This likely comes from his four-seam and sweeper’s increased usage, a shift now giving Fried yet another way of getting hitters out.
Another notable change has been Fried’s run values by pitch type; while 2024 saw Fried generate at least one run with five different pitches, Fried has only done so with three in 2025. The weird part? All three pitches are fastballs.
Fried’s cutter has been the glue in 2025 – with a 14-run value, it leads all cutters in MLB. Results would not argue with run value either, as hitters have posted a .177 BA/.265 SLG on the pitch. While run value is entirely based on results, his cutter’s success thus far has been a great sign for continued run prevention.
This isn’t to say Fried’s other pitches have been bad. Only his sweeper has a negative run value (-2), and it’s only allowed a solid .382 SLG with an elite 37.2 CSW%. In years past, Fried’s curveball has been his most valuable pitch, and modified count usage, smaller sample size, and the addition of a true four-seam are likely key reasons his cutter has been most valuable.
Overall, Fried has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, returning an AL-leading 13 quality starts for a Yankees team that needs as much consistency in its rotation as possible. Look for Fried to continue mixing pitches and staying healthy as his Hall of Fame-worthy career continues to develop in New York.
