In the New York Yankees' first game of the 2025 postseason, star pitcher Max Fried delivered a gem. Fried pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and striking out six. But, in the sixth inning, Fried was pulled by manager Aaron Boone, and the Yankees bullpen preceded to blow the game.
After leading 1-0 on an Anthony Volpe home run, the Yankees allowed two runs in the top of the seventh inning to fall into a 2-1 hole. Luke Weaver allowed two earned runs of a Masataka Yoshida single, and New York was never able to get the lead back. The Red Sox closed out a 3-1 win after escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Boone has been questioned with some managerial decisions in the past, and once again, he is under some heat for taking his star pitcher out of the game. Here's why the manager made the choice to take out Fried.
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Why did Aaron Boone pull Max Fried?
There are a few possible reasons to why Fried was pulled, but the main one is his pitch count. Fried threw 102 pitches in 6.1 innings before being pulled. New York was going to need a fresh arm sooner rather than later, and with the bottom of the lineup coming up, Boone thought it was a perfect time for Weaver to come in, especially given his 2024 postseason heroics.
Weaver failed to get an out, giving up a hit and a run before Yoshida hit the go-ahead single.
Fried's pitch count was high not only because of the three walks he had — including two to Carlos Narvaez — but there were plenty of times during the game where he had to work from behind in the count. In the outs he produced, there were times where he threw a lot of pitches to a singular batter.
Moreover, if the Yankees envision a long postseason run, they are going to need Fried. Boone opted to play it safe here, hoping there is another time he can use his ace. The Yankees made multiple bullpen moves at the 2025 deadline, and it was setting up for those players to come in and close the door. But, Weaver gave the Red Sox the lead before recording an out.
Though, with the Yankees down 2-1 just minutes later, that decision might have backfired.
Fried said in his postgame presser that he did "exert a lot of energy," but was willing to pitch more if the team needed him to.
"I definitely exerted a lot of energy trying to get out of that, but I definitely had enough in the tank for whatever the team needed"
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 1, 2025
- Max Fried pic.twitter.com/Nn4oKIvuFv
He went on to say he felt good until Boone took the ball from him. When asked about it, Boone said he felt that New York was lined up after Fried got Duran to open the seventh.
"I wanted him to go out and get Duran and felt like we were lined up"
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 1, 2025
Aaron Boone discusses the decision to pull Max Fried after 6.1 innings in Game 1 pic.twitter.com/OzOlJZUQgD
Boone said that Boston pressured Fried in the previous few innings as his pitch count continued to build.
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Max Fried stats vs. Red Sox
| IP | Pitches | H | BB | K | ERA |
| 6.1 | 102 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0.00 |
In his first year with the Yankees, Fried led the MLB in wins, and in the first game of the wild card round, he did enough to put the Yankees in position.
Prior to the 2025 MLB Postseason, Fried's career playoff statistics presented a jarring contrast to his elite regular-season performance. Across 20 career playoff appearances (including 12 starts), Fried entered the 2025 postseason with an unflattering combined record of 2-5 and a 5.10 ERA. In total, he had allowed 40 earned runs and 10 home runs over 67 career postseason innings.
Though the pitcher bounced back in Game 1 and delivered a gem in his first Yankees postseason start, it was not enough.