BRONX, N.Y. — On Dec. 17, 2024, the New York Yankees introduced the possibility of one of baseball’s most imposing pitching combinations.
The Yankees had agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract with Max Fried, pairing one of the game’s most accomplished left-handers with reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole.
Fried was not brought to New York simply to strengthen the middle of the rotation. The Yankees envisioned him pitching directly behind Cole, giving the organization two proven aces capable of carrying the club through October.
Yankee fans immediately began imagining what it would look like.
Cole one night. Fried the next.
Power from the right side followed by precision from the left. Two different styles, two established stars and two pitchers capable of stopping a losing streak before it ever had a chance to begin.
The possibilities felt endless.
The wait nearly was, too.
On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, exactly 582 days after the Yankees announced Fried’s arrival, fans will finally get their first look at the Cole-Fried combination.
Cole will start the opening game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium. Fried will return from the injured list to pitch the nightcap.
For the first time, the two aces will officially occupy the Yankees’ rotation together.
A Rotation That Never Had a Chance to Begin
When Fried signed with the Yankees, Cole was coming off another strong postseason performance and appeared ready to reclaim his place at the front of the rotation in 2025.
Instead, elbow trouble during spring training led to Tommy John surgery.
Cole missed the entire 2025 season, leaving Fried to anchor the staff without the pitcher he was originally expected to follow.
Fried responded by becoming everything the Yankees hoped he would be. During his first season in pinstripes, the left-hander went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA over 32 starts. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting and established himself as the Yankees’ ace while Cole watched from the dugout.
Cole’s absence ultimately lasted 569 days.
His final appearance before surgery came in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, when he walked off the mound carrying the weight of the Yankees’ championship loss to the Dodgers. He would not appear on a Yankee mound again until May 22, 2026.
When Cole finally returned, he delivered six scoreless innings and reminded the Bronx exactly what it had been missing.
But there was still one problem.
Fried was no longer there.
Nine Days Apart
Fried made his 10th start of the 2026 season on May 13 against the Baltimore Orioles. He exited after three innings and was placed on the injured list the following day with a bone bruise in his throwing elbow.
Nine days after Fried’s final start, Cole returned.
The timing was almost cruel.
Yankee fans had waited more than a year to see Cole and Fried pitch in the same rotation, only for one ace to disappear just before the other came back.
Fried spent more than two months rehabilitating the injury. He made one start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was originally expected to complete another before rejoining the Yankees.
Tuesday’s rainout changed those plans.
The Yankees moved up Fried’s return, placing Cole in the opener of Wednesday’s doubleheader and Fried in the nightcap.
It may not be how anyone pictured their first day together.
It might be even better.
Instead of waiting five days to see the second half of the combination, Yankee fans will see both pitchers take the mound within a matter of hours.
Two Aces, 10 Starts Apiece
Cole and Fried enter Wednesday having each made exactly 10 starts this season.
Fried was one of the Yankees’ most dependable starters before his injury. He went 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and 50 strikeouts over 61 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters batted only .199 against him, and he completed at least five innings in nine of his 10 starts.
Cole’s return has understandably included more fluctuation as he rebuilds following the longest absence of his career.
Through 10 starts, Cole is 3-5 with a 3.93 ERA. He has recorded 55 strikeouts against only 12 walks in 55 innings while posting a 1.16 WHIP. He has also begun to look increasingly comfortable, completing at least six innings in each of his last two appearances before Wednesday.
The numbers reflect two pitchers arriving at the same destination through very different circumstances.
Fried was settling into another strong season when his elbow forced him to stop.
Cole has been attempting to rediscover his rhythm after baseball forced him to stop for 569 days.
Now, for the first time, they can move forward together.
While They Waited, Another Ace Emerged
The Yankees originally believed they were signing Fried to form a dominant 1-2 punch with Cole.
Instead, they ended up with something even better than they anyone could have ever imagined.
While injuries prevented Cole and Fried from sharing the rotation, Cam Schlittler developed into an ace of his own.
When the Yankees signed Fried in December 2024, Schlittler was still a relatively unknown prospect who had never pitched above High-A. He made his Major League debut midway through the 2025 season and quickly forced his way into the organization’s long-term plans.
In 2026, he has forced his way into the American League Cy Young conversation.
Through his first 21 starts, Schlittler is 9-6 with an AL-best 2.20 ERA over a league-leading 123 innings. He has held opponents to a .205 batting average, recorded a 0.96 WHIP and accumulated 4.1 wins above replacement. He recently finished first in MLB.com’s American League Cy Young Award poll for the third consecutive time.
The pitcher once considered a depth option has become the most stabilizing figure of the Yankees’ rotation.
What was supposed to be Cole and Fried has become Cole, Fried and Schlittler.
A former Cy Young Award winner.
A four-time Gold Glove Award winner who finished fourth in last year’s Cy Young voting.
And a 25-year-old homegrown right-hander making a legitimate case to win the award this season.
The Rotation Is Finally Whole
Fried is stepping back onto a Major League mound for the first time in more than two months. Cole is still rebuilding after losing an entire year of his career.
And Schlittler, well, he has carried himself with the calm, poised presence of a veteran who has been doing this for years.
But for the first time, the Yankees aren’t imagining what this could be. They’re about to unleash it.
Baseball fans all over have waited 582 days for this moment.
They listened to the hype of what the 2025 Yankees’ rotation was promised to be. They watched Cole disappear. They watched Fried carry the weight alone. They watched injuries rip the plan apart again. And in the middle of it all, they watched a young kid from Massachusetts turn into an ace.
The Yankees spent $218 million hoping to create a 1-2 punch.
On July 22, 2026, that combination will finally take the mound.
Only now, it has become a three-headed monster.
