Max Fried makes Yankees spring debut then picks brain of all-time great

Max Fried took his first start of the spring with the Yankees on Monday night as a chance to get back into a rhythm on the mound.

He shook off some adrenaline from wearing pinstripes in a game setting for the first time and got after it, manufacturing different spots to work on his plethora of pitches over 2 1/3 innings in a 12-3 win over the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.

Fried was charged with two earned runs — he was responsible for two baserunners who scored after he was pulled in the top of the third — but the southpaw also struck out two batters, walking one and hitting another.

His fastball, a pitch that averaged 93.9 mph this past season, touched 96.6 mph. He got a swinging strikeout with his loopy breaking ball to strand two runners on in the second, one of six whiffs. There was a lot to like.

Monday was also an opportunity to talk pitching and learn from an all-time great.

YES Network cameras showed Fried chatting with Yankees legend and spring training guest instructor Roger Clemens in the dugout for several minutes after he was lifted from the game in the third inning.

“Really cool,” Fried told reporters after returning to the Yankees’ clubhouse during the victory. “To be able to sit there and pick the brain of a guy that’s won seven Cy Young [Awards], you listen to whatever he has to say.”

Fried has been a sponge over these first few weeks of camp, both with new teammates and other Yankees instructors.

“It’s extremely special,” Fried said. “There’s a lot of really great Yankee legends that have been really successful in this game for many, many years. So to be able to just pick their brains and see how they attack guys and what they did and what worked for them, and seeing if anything can apply to me, it’s been nice.”

With Luis Gil out for the first few months of the season, the Yankees need the ace-caliber version of Fried to hit the ground running early on. After all, that’s who the Yankees dropped $218 million on in free agency this past winter, an eight-year deal and the biggest ever for a left-hander.

NOTABLE

-- Several regulars started on Monday night, but most of the Yankees' offensive output came from those battling for a roster spot. Dominic Smith had four RBI on a pair of two-run singles. He’s been impressive at the plate so far this spring and with Giancarlo Stanton headed to the IL to start the year, Smith has a real path to an Opening Day roster spot if he keeps this up.

-- The Yankees started to pull away from Pittsburgh in the fifth. Anthony Volpe drove in two runs with a base hit to left field. A wild pitch earlier in that at-bat allowed Jazz Chisholm Jr. to scamper home, breaking a 3-3 tie.

-- Carlos Carrasco threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. He walked four batters and struck out two. The non-roster invitee has been impressive this spring and if another starter gets hurt, he and prospect Will Warren are part of the next wave of pitching depth in pinstripes.

-- In the seventh, catcher J.C. Escarra lined a sharp RBI single to right. He’s competing for a spot on the Yankees' bench this spring as a backup to starting catcher Austin Wells, showing flashes of his potential offensively

-- Reliever Tim Hill made his second appearance of the spring, another scoreless frame in relief.

-- Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. swatted his second home run of the spring in the bottom of the eighth, another no-doubter to left. Lombard, the Yankees' first-round pick in 2023, is only 19 years old.

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Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.