Yankees players keep leaving games early. Giancarlo Stanton, Jasson Dominguez, Jose Caballero, and now, Max Fried.

During the brutal 7-0 shutout loss against the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees lost one of the biggest offseason investments to left elbow soreness. Entering the game, Fried had a solid 3.21 ERA. Now, this one comes as a huge blow, as the starting rotation is already struggling with injuries.

“Max Fried left the game with left elbow posterior soreness, Yankees say,” MLB insider Greg Joyce shared via X.

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Fried started the game for the Yankees against the Orioles, but he lasted only through the third inning. He had allowed three runs and five hits. Just when fans were hoping that Aaron Boone would pull Fried out for struggling, things got cleared up.

Paul Blackburn took over on the mound and allowed another three runs over his two innings. Oriole Park was clueless about what happened with Fried, and he was seen walking down the tunnel.

“Fried will be examined by Dr. Christopher Ahmad and undergo imaging tomorrow in NY,” updated Greg Joyce.

His availability now depends on the reports. At worst, Fried will be missed in the upcoming Subway series. But he surely is hoping for the best.

“I’m not too worried about a super long term thing. If I can, I would love to be able to make my next start, but we’ll see,” Fried noted, as updated by Bryan Hoch on X.

In 2025, Fried faced a blister issue on his left finger, similarly after pitching three innings against the Chicago Cubs in July. That blister issue was recurring, following his IL stints in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. But this time, the skipper had indicated that Fried was “feeling something” in between his starts.

“Felt like early on he was having a hard time getting loose and getting to that point. It was taking him several pitches in the inning to get to his (release) point. … In talking with him, [I’m] not that concerned. We’ll do all the testing and whatnot tomorrow,” Boone revealed via CBS Sports.

The Yankees invested $218 million in Fried for 8 years in 2024. It was the largest for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history. So far this season, he has posted a 4-3 record with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and 50 total strikeouts. He’s earned exactly 1,100 strikeouts in his career over 192 starts (209 total games played).

He was signed to anchor the pitching staff, which, as of now, is missing key pieces.

Gerrit Cole is still in rehab but set to return soon. He has already had five minor league rehab starts and may make two or three more. The Yankees are in no hurry with him, and expectedly, he would return by late May or early June. Luis Gil is also out with right shoulder inflammation, and reportedly, he is out for the next three weeks.

For Clarke Schmidt, his return this year is still uncertain after his Tommy John surgery. But right now, things have faced a little uptick, though.

Carlos Rodón has returned to the rotation after having surgery last October to remove loose bodies in his left elbow and shave a bone spur. While he has started only one game so far against the Milwaukee Brewers and recorded a 6.23 ERA, striking out 4 batters among the 21 faced, he should find his footing in due time.

Yet, Gil, Schmidt, and Cole being sidelined, it brings back memories of the Yankees struggling to field a five-man rotation due to injuries in 2025. Boone was then forced to bring out names like Marcus Stroman, who finished his campaign with a 3–2 record, a 6.23 ERA, and 26 strikeouts over 39 innings pitched, and was ultimately released by the team.

Meanwhile, their 2026 lineup is also not performing that great!

The Yankees fielded a much-anticipated roster

Fans and insiders rallied hard behind Spencer Jones for his MLB debut, and the Yankees finally let him on the active roster against the Brewers. He was promoted in place of injured Jasson Domínguez and was coming off a .258 batting average with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs this year in the minors.

Expectations were high, but he has yet to deliver.

Jones started as the designated hitter and batted sixth. However, he faced an intense greeting from Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, who threw triple-digit fastballs topping out at 103.6 mph.

Eventually, Jones finished his debut game 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and a walk. In the game against the Orioles, he stole two bases but failed to get a hit.

In fact, the entire Yankees team managed just a single hit all night.

The next name was Anthony Volpe.

After his struggling 2025, Volpe underwent shoulder surgery, worked into playing shape during spring training, completed his rehab assignment as the season began, but was left in the minors due to Jose Caballero’s dominance at the plate. However, Caballero’s injury opened the gate for Volpe’s return, and he made his 2026 debut tonight against the Orioles.

He finished the night 0-for-3. While that can be slid away, given it was his first at-bat of the season, the shortstop committed an error on a routine ground ball.

In the eighth inning, Orioles outfielder Leody Tavares hit a routine ground ball right at Volpe. He shuffled over to his left to grab it, but didn’t field it cleanly and bobbled the exchange. Volpe was too late on the throw and recorded his first error of the season.

Per Talkin’ Yanks, the Yankees did not make a single error at shortstop from April 13 till Monday. Two games after Caballero’s IL, the team already has two errors. The first was a throwing error on May 12 committed by Max Schuemann.

While Wednesday night’s game was in the limelight for many reasons, it brought nothing more than frustration for the New York Yankees. Now, as we wait for the weekend’s Subway Series, a lot of eyes will be on Cam Schlittler (probable starter), hoping for the team to recover.