Daily Report – 8/19/26
Yankees
After the Yankees received a positive update on Max Fried’s re-injured elbow, Carlos Rodón returned to the rotation and shut down the Orioles. He helped the Yankees capture a much-needed 3-1 victory to begin their three-game series at Camden Yards.
Late Monday night, after the Yankees activated Rodón from the injured list, they replaced his spot on the 15-day IL with Fried, due to a bone bruise in his pitching elbow, the same injury that sidelined him for two months in May.
Suddenly, Yankees fans everywhere began to speculate. Some panicked, believing that Fried would miss the remainder of the season. Others were determined it was a “phantom” IL stint intended to preserve Fried for October.
Today, we learned that the inflammation in Fried’s elbow is low. He continued to throw today and is scheduled to throw off a mound later this week. Manager Aaron Boone is optimistic that his secondary ace (primary being Gerrit Cole, tertiary being Cam Schlittler) will return this season, perhaps even after the minimum 15 days.
“We just kind of collectively decided it’s probably best to make sure we get this calmed down,” Boone said, referring to the inflammation that crept back up in Fried’s elbow. “Hopefully, keep it a smaller issue.”
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, Rodón looked excellent in his first start since June 28. Limited to 66 pitches, he threw four one-run innings, walking two batters while striking out four. In the second inning, Austin Wells bailed him out with the bases loaded by challenging the call on a fastball that clipped the outside corner.
Because the second base umpire was standing in his way, Jazz Chisholm Jr. couldn’t field a routine ground ball. Had he gloved it, he could have turned a double play. Instead, he didn’t even attempt the out at first base, allowing the Orioles to load the bases for Carlos Narváez.
With four pitches, Rodón sent Narváez down swinging. It was the first of four consecutive strikeouts for the Yankees’ southpaw, including the one on Wells’s challenge that ended the inning with Jackson Holliday at the plate.
“We might have had the best challenge of the season by Wellsey, if you think about it,” Boone said. “Who knows? Bases loaded there, Holliday, we’re already down a challenge. It could be a completely different night if he doesn’t challenge that, Jackson gets on, and now Rodón’s shorter.”
In the fourth inning, the Yankees responded to Rodón’s heroics as Trent Grisham crushed a two-out bomb to right field, putting his team ahead 1-0. The home run was Grisham’s fourth in his last six games, a span in which he is 8-for-24 (.333) with eight RBI.
After being removed from the leadoff spot on Sunday, Grisham drove in each of the Yankees’ three runs yesterday in his return to the top of the lineup. With two outs, two strikes, and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Grisham singled to put the Yankees ahead.
Facing lefty Josh Walker, Grisham quickly fell 0-2 in the count. He looked at the first pitch and waived at the second. Then, he laid off two outside sliders before hammering a middle-in sinker at 105 mph for a two-run single.
“He’s been dialed in pretty good,” Boone said of Grisham. “Got a [pitch] that looked like he pulled down and in and didn’t miss it. And then just a huge at-bat, obviously with two outs there, falling behind the lefty 0-2, getting back into the count, and really stinging one up the middle.”
George Lombard Jr. was one of the runners who scored on Grisham’s single. He went 2-for-4 yesterday with a couple of opposite-field singles. He also flashed his powerful arm again in the fourth inning, keeping the game tied 1-1, following Coby Mayo’s third-inning homer, with a long fadeaway throw to first base.
In his first 100 MLB innings at shortstop, the 21-year-old Lombard has recorded eight defensive runs saved. For context, only three shortstops have recorded more this season, including his teammate José Caballero, who has saved nine runs in 528 innings.
If that doesn’t tell you everything about how incredible Lombard is defensively, consider that Taylor Walls, who leads the league with 16 defensive runs saved, has played more than eight times as many frames as Lombard. Also, Lombard is on pace to save 80 runs by his 1000th inning. Meanwhile, Walls is on pace for 19 by his 1000th.
After Rodón’s outing ended after four innings, Yerry De los Santos used 23 pitches to secure the next six outs. That made things easier for the Yankees’ high-leverage arms. In the seventh inning, Brent Headrick needed all the help he could get. He managed two outs, but left two runners on base for Fernando Cruz, who got Pete Alonso to line out.
Paul Blackburn handled the eighth inning, setting the table for David Bednar, who threw eight pitches, all for strikes, in a scoreless ninth. He threw five splitters, including four for whiffs, as he struck out two batters and secured a first-pitch groundout. Bednar earned his 28th save, tied for third in the American League.
Tonight at 6:35 PM, the Yankees will go for the sweep as RHP Will Warren (8-6, 4.42 ERA) will start against RHP Chris Bassitt (4-4, 5.11 ERA) (Prime Video).
Schedule
6:35 PM: NYY at BAL; Prime Video; SP: RHP Will Warren (8-6, 4.42 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Bassitt (4-4, 5.11 ERA)
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
