$218M Yankees star gives honest opinion about facing Aaron Judge as opponent

The New York Yankees rotation has been struck by injuries at the start of the 2025 MLB season. However, the arrival of seasoned starter Max Fried in the offseason has proved to be a masterstroke.

The Yankees signed the All-Star pitcher on an eight-year, $218,000,000 contract in the offseason to bolster the rotation. Max Fried has led the Yankees rotation in Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole's absence with a stellar 4-0 record and 1.42 ERA.

While the star pitcher has led the Yankees' pitching from the mound, captain Aaron Judge has been a dominant force on the offensive end. Fried, who played for the Atlanta Braves before joining the Yankees, talked about facing the two-time AL MVP.

"It's definitely makes things a lot easier," Fried said on not facing Judge anymore. "You know, not having to go up there and worry about a ball coming back at you 120 miles an hour. It's not a walk in the park. I'll tell you that

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Fried, who struck out Judge three times in the past, talked about what it's like to see the reigning AL MVP in action up close.

"It's incredible to be able to see him perform at that level from afar and then be able to see it on a daily basis. It's just a little different, teams are coming in, targeting him and not having him to be the guy to beat you and pitching him carefully. And he's still doing what he's doing and it's been a pleasure to watch so far."

Aaron Judge is batting an incredible .408 this season with seven home runs and 26 RBIs over 40 hits.

Aaron Judge hails Max Fried's impact on Yankees rotation

While Aaron Judge is displaying MVP-calibre performances, the Yankees captain acknowledged Max Fried's remarkable start to his Yankees career after the ace's failed no-hitter bit on Sunday.

"He’s incredible,” Aaron Judge said. “Everything that people have said about him from afar, he’s the real deal. You see it up close, especially to lose a guy like Gerrit Cole, who you can’t replace, and then you sub in Max Fried to go and be that ace for us. It’s been fun to watch.”

The All-Star pitcher went 7.2 innings allowing just two hits against the Tampa Bay Rays in his last outing. Max Fried is slated to start Game 2 against the Toronto Blue Jays after the Yankees lost the series opener on Friday.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash