Max Fried says ‘gut feeling’ brought him to Yankees, looks like ace versus former suitor Red Sox

TAMPA — In an alternate world, Max Fried could have been on the mound at Steinbrenner Field Tuesday as a Red Sox, pitching against the Yankees for the first of many times over the next seven years.

In reality, the lefty was wearing pinstripes and mowing down the Red Sox in his penultimate spring outing, now more important to the Yankees than he has ever been.

Fried looked the part of the de facto ace the Yankees need him to be this season without Gerrit Cole, tossing 4¹/₃ scoreless innings on 68 pitches as he neared the end of his buildup with eyes on starting the second game of the season.

“They got a good one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the 4-4 tie.

Fried represented the Yankees’ Plan B this offseason after losing Juan Soto in free agency — or, as Cole put it earlier this spring, a second Plan A in a “decisive pivot.”

It took eight years and $218 million to land him, with the Red Sox and Rangers also finalists before the Yankees added an eighth year to seal the deal.

On Tuesday, Fried said he “definitely considered” the Red Sox after meeting with them via Zoom, but chalked up his decision to sign with the Yankees to a “gut feeling that I felt like this was the right place for me.” Of course, the money didn’t hurt either.

But Cora said the Red Sox liked Fried for his pitchability, good stuff and ability to make adjustments in-game.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Cora said. “He comes from an organization [the Braves] that, that’s what they do, right? They pitch. It was good to talk to him and understand what drives him and how he operates on the mound. Actually, he knew what he was talking about because he mentioned our defense. He’s a guy that’s going to put the ball in play, so you have to play defense behind him. We actually told him, ‘We’re going to be better defensively.’ It just didn’t happen.”

Instead it is the Yankees that will have to be sharp defensively behind Fried, as was evident on Tuesday.

He recorded seven of his 13 outs on the ground while striking out three (two via the sinker).

“That’s who I am — I’m a ground ball guy,” Fried said. “So if I can get predominantly ground balls and get some weak contact, things are going right.”

The sinker was one of six different pitches Fried threw against the Red Sox, part of the reason why he is difficult to face.

“Every time I watch him, and even watching him the last couple years when we’ve had to see him, looking at him as a hitter trying to face him, it’s just hard to get a bead on him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He just does so many things with the ball. The way he sinks it; his four-seamer’s not real straight, it kind of has a cut to it; changeup is really good; slow you down with the curveball; good slider; and pitches everywhere in the zone.

“So it’s hard for a hitter to zone in on one thing. With the movement he gets, you understand why he puts the ball on the ground and serves up a lot of weak contact.”

Fried will likely make his final spring start on Sunday against the Rays before beginning preparations to face the Brewers in his official Yankees debut on March 29 in The Bronx.

For now, Fried enjoyed throwing to Austin Wells again on Tuesday as the new batterymates continue to build their relationship.

And after he threw his 68th and final pitch of the day, Fried was taken out of the game by an unexpected visitor to the mound that could only happen in Yankees camp: Joe Torre.

“Surprised, but really cool experience,” Fried said of Torre, who is in town as a guest instructor. “He’s obviously one of the legends of the game, so to be able to come out there and hand him the ball was a special one.”