Two key Yankees starting pitchers have become red flags lately

2 weeks ago 14

The New York Yankees are fighting for better seeding in the American League as the 2026 season comes to a close and as they prepare for the MLB postseason.

While Aaron Judge is back and things are seemingly finally going the Yankees' way, two key starting pitchers have become a bit of a problem.

As USA Today's Bob Nightengale highlighted, Gerrit Cole and Max Fried have had rough starts lately that have translated into both being red flags. While it's too soon to panic, it's not too soon to have some real concerns about the two starters.

Yankees should have red flags about Gerrit Cole, Max Fried

"Max Fried has now gone 11 consecutive starts without a victory, while Gerrit Cole is yielding a 5.96 ERA in his last four starts, giving up 29 hits, including eight homers, in 22.2 innings," Nightengale writes.

For as good as the Yankees are as a team, the struggles of Cole and Fried recently are very worrying, especially with the postseason right around the corner.

Of the two, Cole's recent struggles have been a major cause for concern. He has not had a scoreless outing since the end of July, and his 5.96 ERA in his last four starts and 6.48 ERA in his last three outings are cause for concern.

His strikeout numbers aren't very high, and while he's not walking much of anyone, the last two starts of his against the San Diego Padres and New York Mets have resulted in seven homers allowed in just 11.1 innings of work.

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Fried, since a lengthy stay on the injured list, has a 1.93 ERA in 37.1 innings of work. But somehow, he has a 0-1 record in that time.

This isn't so much a concern about Fried's work, though he's had three outings during that time that went under 4.0 total innings. The real issue is how the offense seems to struggle when Fried is on the mound.

It's not Fried's fault, but it's still something worth worrying about. As the Mets fanbase knows with Jacob deGrom, sometimes pitchers just cannot get run support despite being elite and the offense being more than capable of helping out.

If this were to continue into the postseason, where Fried's run support is diminished, it could pose a real problem. But the bigger issue is Cole's recent struggles, thanks in large part to allowing seven homers in two games.