The New York Yankees are bringing back Carlos Rodon on Tuesday, but their starting rotation still won’t be 100% healthy.
The Yankees placed left-hander Max Fried on the 15-day injured list Monday (retroactive to Friday), hours after it was revealed the left-handed Rodon will come off the IL to start Tuesday at the Baltimore Orioles.
Fried, 32, missed two months earlier this season due to a bone bruise in his left elbow, which is the same ailment sending him back to the IL. He made five starts since his initial return July 22 and allowed one run or fewer in four of them, most recently holding the Seattle Mariners to one run on five hits in five innings Aug. 13 in a hard-luck 1-0 loss.
Fried is 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA over 15 starts with 79 strikeouts and 27 walks. The three-time All-Star is in his second season with the Yankees and won an MLB-best 19 games in 2025.
Rodon last appeared in a game June 28 and was placed on the 15-day injured list July 3 after reporting left elbow inflammation. He received platelet-rich plasma injections to spur his recovery.
He made two rehab starts in recent days, one at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and one at Double-A Somerset. In the latter, he tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits and seven strikeouts.
Rodon, 33, had surgery last October to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow. His season debut was delayed until May 10 due to a right hamstring issue in spring training.
Rodon was 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA in nine starts before being placed on the IL. In 12 seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2015-21), San Francisco Giants (2022) and Yankees (2023-26), the three-time All-Star is 97-74 with a 3.72 ERA, 1,461 strikeouts and 503 walks.
The Yankees were off Monday before opening a three-game divisional series in Baltimore. They began the week in the first American League wild-card position and 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the East.
Despite injuries to Fried, Rodon and Gerrit Cole staggered throughout the season, pitching has been the Yankees’ strength as they lead the major leagues in ERA (3.26) and starters’ ERA (3.38).
–Field Level Media
