While the Yankees did not play on July 21, the fanbase received a very pleasant surprise on the day. Rather than make another scheduled rehab assignment, Max Fried will start for the Yanks on July 22, marking his return after a two-month IL stint.

The numbers

There’s not much to write about with respect to Max Fried, as he only tossed three innings in his lone rehab assignment on July 17. It was Fried’s first action in a real game since May 13, as he spent two months on the injured list with an elbow bone bruise.

Not a lot of swing-and-miss against the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, as it was just a tick over 13% with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Fried struck out three over three innings, allowing five hits. One of those was a home run from Nate Eaton.

Generally speaking, Fried is the kind of pitcher who makes the most of his stuff when he’s mixing pitches. He did do that in his outing with the RailRiders. Four of his six pitches saw at least 10% usage, with most of his work coming with the cutter and the four-seamer. Fried’s sweeper saw the least amount of usage.

Fried threw 52 pitches in total.

The velocity

Fried topped out at 95 MPH. And as the game went on, Fried’s velocity did tick up, as he averaged just a bit over 94 MPH combined between the four-seamer and two-seamer.

Overall, very good signs for Fried, who was originally scheduled to make another rehab assignment on the 22nd. Instead, he will be called back into action and make a start in Game 2 of the Yankees’ doubleheader against the Pirates.

The Yankees have been waiting patiently — well over a year at this point — to see both Fried and Gerrit Cole atop the rotation. And on July 22, the two are scheduled to pitch in the two legs of a doubleheader.

Yes, expect a stingy pitch count, as Fried isn’t completely built up yet. But overall, good signs from a left-hander who can dice hitters up and blow them away when needed.

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