This Yankee’s Return Is Welcome, But Lingering Issues Still Remain

This Yankee’s Return Is Welcome, But Lingering Issues Still Remain

By Derek McAdam

July 22, 2026

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After the New York Yankees’ entertaining 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the three-game series, I was looking forward to last night’s matchup and covering it for our fantastic readers. Then early yesterday afternoon, it was announced that the teams would play a split doubleheader today following severe weather threatening the tri-state area.

Sure, it was a bummer, but it was the correct call to make. And I’m glad the Yankees made the decision early in the afternoon as opposed to when fans had already began entering Yankee Stadium. That is a trait that really annoys me, especially if it is known that weather will play a factor several hours after the scheduled first pitch.

Nonetheless, while it was announced that the Yankees were set to play their second doubleheader in just a matter of days, they did receive some positive news prior to the games: Max Fried is making his return to the MLB level and will start the second game of today’s doubleheader.

This is extremely welcoming news for the Yankees and for Fried, who is making his first MLB appearance since May 13. In 10 starts this season, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 61.2 IP. He’s also struck out 50 while allowing 19 walks and only one home run. The Yankees have definitely missed Fried in the starting rotation, although they did get Gerrit Cole back right around the same time Fried got hurt. And for the first time since joining the Yankees, Cole and Fried will be pitching in the same starting rotation. In fact, Cole will start Game 1 this afternoon.

As a result of Fried’s return, it is likely one of the starters will receive a demotion to the bullpen, likely either Will Warren or Ryan Weathers. And at this point, I think it seems more likely that it will be Weathers. And Yankee fans cannot forget that Clarke Schmidt will likely be joining the club later next month or possibly September, which will be yet another pitcher they can add to the bullpen or starting rotation, depending on how Carlos Rodon progresses through his injury rehab.

But one aspect that the Yankees will not improve on with Fried’s return is the (mostly) lackluster offense. And yes, it might be ridiculous writing this just a couple days after the Yankees scored eight runs against the Pirates. But the issue is that what we saw Monday night is typical Yankee baseball. They can score runs against some of the weaker teams, but as indicated over the weekend, they struggled to produce runs against a team that is back-to-back World Series champions.

I will give credit where credit is due: the Yankees’ pitching staff held the Los Angeles Dodgers to two runs or less in two of those three games. The Yankee offense also only scored five runs throughout the three games and were really shut down by the Dodgers’ pitching staff in all three games. The offense can absolutely show bursts at times, but they are a one-dimensional team that relies way too much on home runs.

My biggest concern is that Brian Cashman is going to rely too much on the returns of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to the lineup and maybe just add a catcher (if even that) to the team. The reality is that even with Judge and Stanton back in, the Yankees still need more bats in the lineup. I would love to see the Yankees present a big package for Colorado Rockies’ catcher Hunter Goodman, but I see Cashman going for Minnesota Twins’ catcher Ryan Jeffers, who is a rental and would be significantly cheaper.

And Jeffers would definitely provide an upgrade at the plate over Austin Wells, which is not saying much since Wells is statistically one of the worst, if not the worst, hitter in the league. But Jeffers has hit well for average in three of his last four seasons and definitely could be a nice plug-in for the middle of the lineup. I would not be opposed to adding him if it means Wells is no longer the starter.

But as I mentioned, Jeffers will not be enough for this team to make a deep playoff run, even if Judge and Stanton come back. They could make it all the way to the World Series since the AL is definitely weaker compared to the NL, but there are several NL teams that could take care of them with no issues. This is a team that will make its own mistakes and suffer the consequences because of it.

Here’s the biggest issue: there really isn’t much of a market for hitters. This market is being extremely dominated by pitchers, and while there are a few hitters such as Jeremy Pena and Byron Buxton, it does not seem as if the Yankees have much interest in acquiring them. Cashman seems much more focused on getting more bullpen arms such as Mason Miller and upgrading at catcher.

It is very much a possibility that the Yankees are checking in on other hitters across the league, which is something they should definitely do. But with the possibility of no baseball being played next year and several key Yankees already in their mid-30s and losing a year due to a potential lockout, that could knock the Yankees out of contention for a little while.

Tying it all back together, it is great to see Fried back on the mound for the Yankees. But his return is not going to send this team to the promised land. It will definitely help them get closer, but they need help on the other side of the ball if they want that to happen. The next few games will be crucial to the decisions that could be made. Let’s see what happens.