In 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023—all these years—Yankees’ pitcher Max Fried has dealt with blisters on his left index finger and consequently made his way to the injured list. It seemed like his blister issues made an unwelcome return recently, and so did the chaos on the field for the Yankees. Let’s just say, his blister flare-up paired with some fielding miscues contributed to the Yankees’ 8-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Against the division rivals, Fried dominated the first 10 batters he faced on Wednesday. He looked like a perfect Cy Young contender. However, he left the game during the fifth inning with one out and a one-run deficit.
That same time, the cameras caught his bloodied pinkie finger, and the most obvious conclusion for many was that his blister is back. However, after the game, Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone gave a better and positive update on the veteran southpaw.
Image: MLB.com
When about Fried, Boone replied, “Yeah, yeah, I just talked to him, and he had no issues.” He added, “he was good.”
Whether or not Fried was affected by the blister, his outing clearly reflected that he was not at his full strength. The veteran threw his sweeper just four times. His first changeup came 18 pitches later, and until his 45th pitch, he didn’t throw a curveball. His pitch selection was clearly limited.
Further, Boone was asked about the Yankees’ defense and what really went wrong. “Yeah, just not good enough. You know, look, I think we have a very good defense club clearly in the seven games we’ve played up here, you know, not giving them extra outs, whether it’s through error or not making a play that we needed to make.” He said.
“That’s cost us in these two series up here where we really hurt.” Boone added. They were brutally swept during the last four-game series at Rogers Centre. Now, once again, at the same ballpark, against the same team, the Yankees were handed two losses across three games.
Why can’t the Yankees seem to beat the Blue Jays
The Yankees’ defensive miscues were quite evident on Wednesday night. Adding another loss, the Yankees have dropped even further down in the AL East Standings.
The Yankees concluded the game with just five hits, and they committed four errors. We can say that they almost matched the defensive mistakes with offensive output. The right fielder Cody Bellinger—the Yankees’ most promising off-season acquisition lost the track of a fly ball.
When fielders lose track of any ball, in case of flashy lights or sun, they are rarely recorded as an error. It was instead scored as a triple for Jays’ infielder Ernie Clement. By that time, the Yankees were boiling over losing the grip of the game.
After the game, Aaron Boone did acknowledge that the Yankees’ defense wasn’t good. However, he also somehow subtly blamed the artificial turf of the Blue Jay’s Rogers Centre. “I think it’s just two bad series where we played here. I don’t know if it’s just coming to the turf—that’s not really an excuse, it’s the same game—but obviously I think in these series we’ve given them too many outs and it’s cost us.” He said.
Except for the latest mistakes, the Yankees’ defense isn’t that bad. Across the league, they rank in the middle with their 52 errors. Well, that’s not good but certainly not bad either. Yet, the New York Yankees do need some fixing, and hopefully this trade deadline, they will clean things up in their roster.
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