In his first season in pinstripes, Max Fried was golden.
The left-hander won his fourth career Gold Glove on Sunday night, taking home the award for American League pitchers — the first Yankees pitcher to do so since Mike Mussina in 2008.
Fried used his athleticism to help himself out and strengthen the Yankees’ infield defense when he was on the mound, which was a point of pride for him.
A pickoff specialist — he led the AL with seven — Fried led all major league pitchers with 10 Defensive Runs Saved this season.
Before signing an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees last offseason, Fried won three Gold Gloves with the Braves.
The terrific fielding came on top of posting a 2.86 ERA across 195 1/3 innings with an MLB-high 19 wins, likely putting him in the top five of AL Cy Young finishers when the award is announced in two weeks.
The only other Yankee finalist for a Gold Glove was Ryan McMahon, who was up for the third baseman award in the National League after spending the majority of the season with the Rockies.
But the five-time finalist came up short again, with the Reds’ Ke’Bryan Hayes — who was traded from the Pirates at the end of July — taking home the award.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
