Alex Cora came away impressed after Fried threw 4.1 shutout innings
“He knows what he’s doing,” Cora said, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “He comes from an organization [where] 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. He knew what he was talking about, because he mentioned our defense.”
It was Fried’s third start of the spring, and he has now pitched 10.2 innings and given up only three runs on five hits with one walk.
Fried came up with the Atlanta Braves, where he spent the first eight years of his career. He signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees over the offseason after also considering the Red Sox and other teams.
Max Fried had a ‘gut’ feeling about signing with the Yankees over the Red Sox
“Everyone that I talked to was really great,” Fried said, per Hoch. “At the end of the day, I don’t know if I could really put my finger on it. It was just more of a gut feeling. I felt like this was the right place for me.”
As Cora continued to praise Fried, he opened up more about what he discussed with the pitcher during the free agent process.
“It’s a guy that you’re 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.’ [The deal] just didn’t happen, but he’s a good kid that got rewarded. He’s been on the big stage, and he’s been successful. So they’ve got a good one.”
The Red Sox won’t face the Yankees in the regular season until June 6 to 8 when they visit Yankee Stadium for a weekend series.
