beyond the back page The Yankees are running out of time to test this thing out By Ethan Sears Published Aug. 19, 2026, 7:40 a.m. ET Carlos Rodon delivers during the Yankees' win over the Orioles in Baltimore on Aug. 18, 2026. AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough The good news for the Yankees is that they are uniquely well-equipped to lose Max Fried for a couple weeks.
Carlos Rodón, who returned from injury on Tuesday night in Baltimore, is not that far from a like-for-like Fried replacement, and the Yankees certainly have the starting pitching to keep treading water in a playoff race where that may be all that’s required of them.
What they don’t have is the luxury of bumping a starter to the bullpen — something they had been counting on doing after failing to bring in any help at the trade deadline — or a solution to their offensive woes. Their dependence on starting pitching is at an all-time high, which makes it all the more worrisome that Fried and Rodón are both question marks to some degree.
Fried had already missed over two months due to a left elbow bone bruise before that same injury led the Yankees to put him on the 15-day IL Monday. He’s made just 15 starts this season, but his 2.81 ERA has been very much at the level the Yankees expect.
