This isn’t just a New York Yankees slump. It’s a slow, grinding unravel. And while manager Aaron Boone continues to rack up ejections like he’s on a mission to beat Earl Weaver’s lifetime achievement record, the actual team performance is stuck in neutral. Maybe even reverse.
Let’s count the ways. The Yankees rank in the bottom third of MLB in team speed, baserunning, defense, bullpen ERA, and clutch hitting. They’ve been dead average across their last 98 games (49–49), and their record against winning teams? A dismal 31–36, worse than the Angels. That’s not exactly the company you want to keep.
And now, as if the situation wasn’t shaky enough, Max Fried is slipping. Badly.
A Max Fried Problem at the Worst Time
Fried’s decline hasn’t just been a rough patch, it’s becoming a pattern. Over his last seven starts, he’s had a blister issue, a skipped outing, and a clear drop in command.
His latest game, a 7–1 drubbing by the Astros, highlighted the problem: five hits allowed on two-strike counts and a staggering drop in fastball usage. He threw just 18% heaters, instead leaning on a cutter that’s lost its bite and can’t find the strike zone with a map.
Now, this all started when Fried arrived and bought into a new philosophy. Pitching coach Matt Blake and the analytics team helped overhaul Fried’s approach—shifting him from north-south (fastball-curve) to east-west (cutter-sweeper-sinker). At first, it threw hitters off. The scouting reports were useless. But now? The league adjusted. And Fried hasn’t adjusted back.
That new cutter? It’s becoming a liability. And by moving away from the fastball so dramatically, Fried has lost his feel for the sinker and four-seamer. His arm angle has dropped, his hand is further from his body, and it’s affecting his ability to command pitches he used to dominate with. It’s not the velocity, it’s not the spin—it’s the shape and the mechanics. He’s caught in no-man’s land between styles.
Boone Ejections, Judge Slumps, and a Playoff Race Slipping Away
Boone has made it clear he’s not going to tear into his team. Instead, he keeps taking it out on umpires. He was ejected again on Sunday for arguing balls and strikes. That makes 44 ejections in just 1,150 games. That’s one every 26 games, right on pace with Earl Weaver. It’s wild stuff, especially in the replay era.
And then there’s Aaron Judge. Still shaking off that flexor tendon strain, he’s gone ice cold: three singles and no extra-base hits in his last six games. After flirting with .400 through 66 games, he’s down to .238 over the past 42, and his strikeout rate has jumped from 22.8% to 31.1%. He should bounce back, but the clock is ticking.
Fried is usually a second-half guy—2.89 ERA in the second half over his career, and nails in September (2.44 ERA). Only Strasburg and Kershaw have matched that kind of late-season dominance in the live-ball era. But this version of Fried doesn’t look like that guy. The Yankees were 13–4 in his first 17 starts. They’re 2–5 in his last seven.
With eight starts left, Fried has to figure this out. Because with all the Yankees’ other problems, if he doesn’t, they’re staring at a one-in-three shot at missing the playoffs entirely.
And if that happens? Aaron Boone might just set a new ejection record before October even starts.
