Jul 22, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried (54) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Max Fried and his girlfriend are expecting the birth of their child any day now, but that is not impacting the Yankees southpaw’s plans to take the ball for Game 3 of the ALDS on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
“I’ve got a real supportive family that understands that this is my job,” Fried said on Tuesday. “And it’s not going to affect what happens tomorrow.”
The fate of the Yankees’ season, in part, directly rests on Fried’s left arm. They trail the Rays 2-0 in the best-of-five series, meaning one more loss ends yet another campaign earlier than expected.
“It’s a must-win game,” Fried said. “If we don’t win, we go home. This is where you leave everything out on the field. There’s nothing else to save anything for. I understand the leash is probably going to be pretty small, and we’re going to do whatever we can to win, so for me, it’s leave everything out there.”
While Fried was one of New York’s stars of the rotation when healthy this season, he had mixed results against the Rays, including his penultimate start of the regular season in which he yielded four runs on six hits in 6.2 innings.
It feels as though he’ll have to be near-perfect on Wednesday night, especially considering how poor the Yankees’ defense has been. They committed four errors in Monday night’s Game 2 loss, including three in the first inning.
“You have to flush it and not let it affect you, but at the same time, use it as motivation to stop it right there and prove that it doesn’t define you, or it isn’t the character, and it was just a freak game,” Fried said. “It’s important to have a little bit of pride and be able to say that’s not us, and we’re going to prove it.”
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