Max Fried is still working himself back to full strength from injury.
Because of that, the New York Yankees seem likely to employ a fascinating strategy with him when he takes the mound on Friday against the San Diego Padres.
Fried is the scheduled starting pitcher, and that’s not really in question. He should get the ball first for the Yanks.
He just might be followed by another starting pitcher — in this case, Will Warren.
It’s a potential piggyback strategy that the Yankees could decide to employ.
How Long Will Max Fried Pitch?
The question that’s hard to answer is just how long Fried will go.
Because the Yankees are already talking about using Warren behind him, it seems like Fried isn’t looking at a super long outing.
“We’ll have Max go Friday, [and] we’ll probably have Will go behind him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week, via MLB.com. “We’ll probably keep Max in a similar spot. [Warren] could slide back in. We’ll see. We’ll see how it all shakes out.”
Fried has made just one start since returning from his pitching elbow bone bruise, so that’s not a lot of data to go on.
In that outing, Fried threw 63 pitches.
The expectation would be that Fried could get up to around 80 in this one, although the Yankees haven’t said a specific number out loud.
Why Would Will Warren Pitch From Bullpen?
Warren probably doesn’t love this plan.
In his last start, he threw seven innings of one-run ball against the rival Red Sox.
The Yankees have six starting pitchers on the roster right now, though, including the rookie Elmer Rodriguez. That suggests the Yanks are trying to keep arms fresh for the stretch run.
“We’ll probably have some piggyback scenarios coming up,” Boone said earlier this week. “There [are] some iterations with dates and another double header coming at the end of the month.
Piggyback roles can be tricky for the starter who has to come out of the pen, which would be Warren in this case. Usually, that’s not a role they’re familiar with.
It’s also a lot less predictable. When a pitcher is starting a game, they know the exact time that first pitch is scheduled for.
If Warren’s plan is to come into the game in the fourth or fifth inning, it’s a lot harder to nail down exactly when each stage of a warmup routine should happen.
Still, this is just the Yankees trying to make the most of the talent they have. A surplus of arms rarely hurts a team, as long as each pitcher is able to embrace his role. The Yanks, with Fried and Warren, will face that test on Friday.
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