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Max Fried‘s Yankees spring training debut arrived, Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe each had two hits, and Dominic Smith‘s roster case continued as New York scored a 12-3 win over Pittsburgh Pirates Monday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
Fried “looked good,” as Aaron Boone told the YES Network broadcast, in his first spring training start with New York.
“Stuff was good — a little hot with the heater,” Boone said. “He was up to 97 (mph) with the fastball, but looked like it had good movement, too, executed a lot of different pitches. You’ve got to look at the repertoire. He can do so many things with the baseball and such a large arsenal. I thought he got into a pretty good rhythm. Overall, I thought he threw the ball well — a successful day.”
Before Fried left with two on and one out in the third, he had kept the Pirates scoreless while striking out two, walking one, hitting one and allowing two knocks. Ryan Anderson subsequently entered in relief, and two batters later, allowed a Joey Bart home run with two outs that tied the game at 3-3 while charging two earned runs to Fried.
Ultimately, Fried’s 1-2-3 first inning and scoreless second set the table for a solid debut in what was his first live action since Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series Oct. 2 against the San Diego Padres.
“Getting through healthy, that’s the most important thing, just being able to check the box, get back out there, kind of get the swing of the game, get the competitive juices going and coming out healthy,” Fried told YES Network of what he took away from his debut.
Respectively batting third and fourth, Bellinger and Volpe showed potential signs of things to come in the Yankees’ lineup.
Volpe’s leadoff single in the second inning led to him eventually scoring the game’s first run, and he added a fifth-inning knock through the left side for two RBI that pushed the Yankees’ lead to 6-3 while earning his first two-hit instance this spring.
The at-bat prior, Bellinger singled on a ground ball to shortstop that plated Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jackson Castillo in scoring position for Volpe. Bellinger, who got on the board with a third-inning single to left field, had a two-hit game in this past Friday’s 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bellinger’s 7-for-13 start through six games is especially a welcomed development for New York after this past December’s trade with the Chicago Cubs. Volpe, meanwhile, enters a pivotal third season as the Yankees’ shortstop trending in the right direction over the past three games following an 0-for-7 start across the first three.
Smith, whose career started with the Mets (2017-22) before bouncing between a handful of teams from 2023-24, is letting his play do the talking as he fights for a return to New York — this time with the Yankees.
Batting seventh as the designated hitter — where New York has a question mark with Giancarlo Stanton starting the season on the injured list — Smith’s 2-for-4 night featured a pair of two-run singles that respectively put the Yankees on the board early and buried the Pirates late.
Smith, who homered in consecutive days last week, is up to seven RBI through five games this spring.
“We’ll see,” Boone told YES Network of designated hitter. “I mean, it could be a shared situation. It could be a left-right situation. We’ll see if anyone really emerges out of camp. We certainly love what we’re seeing from Ben Rice. So, if you’ve got a situation doing a three-catcher thing, he can very much factor into that DH role. Dom Smith has come in here and looked strong. A guy like Everson Pereira is back from injury. He can factor into things.
“We’ve got Pablo Reyes here on a non-roster (spot) that’s had some success in the big leagues. J.C. Escarra is another guy that obviously factors into the catching mix but could also factor into that DH mix, so we’ll see. We’ll see, as camp continues to unfold, if somebody emerges, takes it or pushes himself into the mix in some way, shape or form.”
Smith, whose four RBI broke the game open for New York.
The Yankees go across Tampa Bay to BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla., Tuesday and play the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Will Warren, who has allowed one hit while striking out seven and walking one in five scoreless innings over two appearances with one start this spring, is set to start for New York.
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