The New York Yankees really can’t catch a break right now. Although the team is looking good, they are riddled with injuries, which might start to catch up with them soon. And the $218 million pitcher they thought was coming back might be out for longer. This is not good news for the pitching department.

Just a few days ago, the Yankees fans were happy that they got back Carlos Rodon, with Gerrit Cole on the way. But after it was announced by Aaron Boone that Max Fried might take some time to return, their high spirits have died down again.

Boone said, “There’s nothing really that would say he can start the ramp-up process yet.”

Max Fried left the mound against Baltimore after just 3 innings with elbow discomfort on May 3rd. An MRI showed that his left elbow bone had bruised, and Fried immediately put him on the 15-day IL.

Since then, he has missed 10 games, and the Yankees say he is still not ready to start. The shutdown from throwing was taken off, and Fried was able to get back to feeling the ball. But his work is still limited to light catch only.

Right now, every update feels like a slow rebuild of trust in that elbow. That’s why Aaron Boone made it clear that the Yankees are not ready to push Fried into a full throwing program, yet.

Boone said that the team has seen nothing to show that he can get back to pitching full-time. He also noted that things have been improving over the past week, but the workload stays limited.

And that gap between “feeling better” and “ramping up” is still wide for the Yankees.

Max Fried himself has kept things simple and honest about where he stands right now. He said, “It’s a waiting game, but feeling much better,” when talking about his progress.

He also admitted he was unsure when he would be able to start fully throwing again. That uncertainty and the current plan go hand-in-hand. And it leaves his return tied fully to how the elbow responds day by day.

Before the injury, Fried had been steady with a 4-3 record and a 3.21 ERA. He also logged 61.2 innings across 10 starts with 50 strikeouts and had allowed just 1 home run. Based on current updates, his return could be around June or July if everything goes smoothly. The 32-year-old started with the Yankees from the 2025 season after moving there on a record $218M, the highest for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history.

For the Yankees, this injury lands right in the middle of rotation planning alongside Clarke Schmidt’s long rehab. Schmidt is still working back from UCL surgery. Reports say that he might be back by September.

That leaves the pitching leaning heavily on the bullpen while holding a 30-22 record. Fried was supposed to sit next to Gerrit Cole as a top rotation piece. But now every small update from him feels like a key swing point for the whole team.

The Yankees’ rumored trade for an arm during the deadline

With all the injuries hitting the teams, the New York Yankees might be going after an arm to bolster their pitching for crunch time.

We are not even halfway into the season, and the Yankees are already eyeing bullpen upgrades. Insider Robert Murray linked Cardinals pitcher Riley O’Brien as a possible trade target to the Bronx.

The Yankees plan to remain focused on strengthening the bullpen before the deadline hits, and that is exactly what this move will do. With the expectations sky high for the team, they plan to end the deadline with some aggressive moves.

Currently, the Yankees’ bullpen has a 3.51 ERA, ranking 11 in the league. The batters are batting .237 against the Yanks, which shows why the Yankees have lost some of the close games.

But in the last month, the bullpen has a 3.17 ERA with the opponents averaging .223. Tight games have exposed bullpen gaps despite the starting rotation doing very well. Numbers show that the bullpen has done enough, but with Max Fried still missing, they could use O’Brien.

Riley O’Brien has an ERA of 2.96 in 24.1 innings. Across the last 2 seasons, he has held a 2.38 ERA, showing his reliability. One more thing that makes the Yankees go after him is the fact that he has a 24.3% strikeout rate, and the batters average just .205 against him.

The Yankees value pitchers who limit hitters from getting on base, especially in late innings where the team has fallen flat this season. And O’Brien fits the bullpen perfectly, offering stability without having to change the current build.