'No one is Gerrit Cole': Yanks to lean on Fried in Cole's absence

TAMPA, Fla. -- On the December afternoon Max Fried was formally fitted for pinstripes, the left-hander spoke about looking forward to pairing with Gerrit Cole at the top of the Yankees' rotation, saying that he would be “excited to sit and watch every single one of his starts.”

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That opportunity won’t come for at least a year, with Cole scheduled to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Cole’s absence will increase the spotlight on Fried as he begins his first season with the Yankees, set to make his debut during the season-opening series against the Brewers.

“With Gerrit, I really feel for him. It stinks,” Fried said. “He’s a competitor and he wants to be out there. He definitely didn’t take this decision lightly. I was really excited to be able to share a dugout and be able to play with him. That will just be delayed a little bit.”

With Cole unavailable and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil also expected to miss at least three months with a right lat strain, Fried heads a rotation that projects to include Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt.

Will Warren, Carlos Carrasco and Allan Winans are among the in-house candidates for the No. 5 spot. Fried, who said he first met Cole during a recruiting visit at UCLA, said he does not feel additional pressure to replicate the righty’s past performance.

“At the end of the day, no one is Gerrit Cole, right?” Fried said. “I’ve got to take the ball every time that I take the ball. It doesn’t matter if he was on the mound or not. Realistically, it’s just about doing my job. It’s going out there and making sure that, when I take the ball, we have a really good chance to win that day.”

Cole’s injury underscores the importance of the Yankees’ winter addition of Fried, who agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract as the most significant piece of an organizational pivot shortly after Juan Soto opted to sign with the Mets.

The 31-year-old Fried posted a career record of 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA in 168 games (151 starts) over eight seasons with the Braves. A two-time top-five finisher in NL Cy Young Award balloting, Fried ranks third in the Majors in home runs allowed per nine innings (0.8), fifth in ERA, opponents’ slugging (.352) and groundball percentage (54.6%) over that span.

“For me, I have to be Max Fried,” he said. “I can’t try to fill anyone else’s shoes. I’ve pitched with a lot of really great teammates and stuff like that. I have to know what makes me successful and not try to be someone I’m not.”

Fried has made one Grapefruit League start for the Yankees thus far, on March 3 against the Pirates. His next scheduled outing is set for Thursday against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla.

Though it would seem a natural fit for Fried to grab Cole’s Opening Day nod, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Fried may “not necessarily” line up for the March 27 start against the Brewers. Boone said he expects to decide on his new Opening Day starter within the next several days.

“The way I try to see it is, it’s one of hopefully 33 starts,” Fried said. “It’s obviously nice to get off to a good start and on the right foot. But it’s one of 33, and if we go where we want to go, hopefully there’s more than that.”