After reaching the World Series in 2024, the New York Yankees fell short of getting back to the Fall Classic, falling in the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays. As the 2026 MLB season nears, Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried got straight to the point about the team’s sole goal.
“Definitely didn’t end the way we wanted,” Fried told reporters on Feb. 12 (h/t SNY). “Just talking with a lot of the guys throughout the offseason, and especially in camp so far, it definitely didn’t leave a good taste in our mouths.
“We’re motivated. We want to be able to clean up a lot of the mistakes that we made last year and try to learn from it, be able to get better, and hopefully get to where we want to go, which is to a World Series and win one.”
After being outscored 23-8 in the first two games against the Blue Jays in Toronto, the two games in the Bronx were a lot closer. However, it was the Blue Jays that won Game 4 to win the series 3-1 and advance to the ALCS.
As a result, it comes as no surprise that Fried and his Yankees teammates want to get back to October and get that bad performance out of their mouths.
Yankees Will See a Motivated Max Fried in 2026
Meanwhile, Fried will look to build on an amazing 2025 regular season. In 32 appearances, Fried posted a 19-5 record with an ERA of 2.86 and 189 strikeouts. Still, the veteran pitcher isn’t happy with his last start for 2025, which came in the Game 2 loss to Toronto, when he allowed seven earned runs in three innings.
“Felt like it was a good year, but at the end I didn’t have the start that I needed to make, so it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and motivated me through the offseason,” Fried added (h/t SNY).
Max Fried Backs New York’s Decision to Run It Back
Moreover, the Yankees starter didn’t hold back that he believes in the decision to run the team back after winning 94 games last season.
“I personally think that our group is good enough talent-wise to compete with anyone in the game,” Fried said (h/t SNY). “Obviously, we didn’t have the series that we wanted to. A big part of that was that we weren’t able to pitch as well as we wanted and keep ourselves in games.
“We were behind early, often, and then you’re asking a big task in playoff games for your offense to put up five, six, seven runs against good teams. I could be wrong, but I think the offense is either the best in baseball or at least the best in the AL. It’s a deep lineup. They’re going to put up runs.
“We’re going to get Gerrit [Cole] back. We’re going to have a lot of really good, quality arms to be able to round out the staff. Baseball is a funny game where, on any given day, someone can beat you, and we didn’t play the best baseball when we needed to. I know that if we have the same group, we’re motivated, and we want that opportunity again.”
Yankees’ Max Fried Sends Clear Message Before 2026 Season