Max Fried Hits the IL as the Yankees' Dream Rotation Remains Purely Theoretical

Max Fried is heading to the 15-day injured list with a left elbow bone bruise, officially delaying the New York Yankees' dream rotation yet again.

The idea of Fried and Gerrit Cole dominating back-to-back was supposed to be the scariest thing in baseball. Instead, it has become a purely theoretical concept, like flying cars or a cheap stadium beer.

"MLB Trade Rumors reported the Yankees placing Max Fried on the injured list."

MLB Trade Rumors relayed the bad news after Fried was pulled following just 61 pitches in Wednesday's 7-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. The silver lining here is that his UCL is reportedly intact, which is a massive sigh of relief for a guy who already had Tommy John surgery back in 2014.

Before the elbow started barking, Fried was carrying a heavy load. He posted a 4-3 record with a 3.21 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, practically holding the rotation together with duct tape while Cole worked his way through a minor-league rehab assignment.

Now Fried joins a Yankees medical ward that is starting to look like a fantasy draft board from 2023. With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, and Carlos Rodon all dealing with their own IL stints, the training staff is getting more work than the bullpen.

This throws a massive wrench into the betting markets for the upcoming series against the Baltimore Orioles. Elmer Rodriguez was called up from Triple-A to fill the void, meaning anyone holding Yankees futures or looking at the daily moneyline needs to aggressively recalculate their math.

The timeline for Fried is murky, but he is shut down from throwing for at least a few weeks. If Cole returns soon, the Yankees might just survive the summer, but until then, New York is going to have to win games the hard way.