Max Fried exits Yankees start with elbow soreness just as rotation begins to get healthy

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New York Yankees lefty Max Fried exited Wednesday's start against the Baltimore Orioles after three innings with elbow posterior soreness, the team announced. He will undergo tests and further examination during the team's off-day on Thursday.

Fried labored through three innings Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk. In his last three starts, Fried has allowed 11 runs on 17 hits and seven walks in only 14 innings. His control has been an issue much of the season, so much so that Fried abandoned his windup four starts ago and began pitching exclusively from the stretch.

The Yankees welcomed Carlos Rodón back from the injured list this past weekend and are expected to get Gerrit Cole back after two or three more rehab starts. New York's rotation depth chart currently looks like this:

1. RHP Gerrit Cole (rehabbing from Tommy John surgery)
2. LHP Max Fried (exited Wednesday start with elbow soreness)
3. LHP Carlos Rodón
4. RHP Cam Schlittler
5. RHP Will Warren
6. LHP Ryan Weathers
7. RHP Luis Gil (on Triple-A injured list with shoulder inflammation)
8. RHP Elmer Rodríguez

The Yankees won't speed up Cole's return should Fried miss time. Rodríguez, one of the team's top prospects, made two spot starts earlier this season and would likely get the call to bridge the gap between Fried and Cole's return, if one is needed.

Entering play Wednesday, New York's rotation ranked second with a 3.06 ERA and first with 5.6 WAR. Schlittler has been one of the best pitchers in baseball and both Warren and Weathers have leveled up amid breakout seasons. Still, losing Fried for even a few starts would be a big blow in what figures to be a tightly contested AL East race.

The Yankees are 27-16, two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the division. Their plus-76 run differential is the AL's best by 52 runs.