The New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry was alive and well during the MLB offseason, particularly when it came to Max Fried. It was no secret that Craig Breslow and the Red Sox were in the hunt with the star southpaw, but the Yankees upped their offer to an eight-year, $218 million deal to secure him. Boston, meanwhile, then pivoted to trading for Garrett Crochet. And both moves seemed to be working to perfection for the pair of rivals, but Fried's recent struggles are starting to make things a bit embarrassing for New York in that regard.
Put simply, Fried has been on the struggle bus since the All-Star break. While the Yankees still scored the win on Saturday against the Cardinals, the lefty had a litany of issues, allowing seven earned runs across just five innings to the zombie St. Louis squad. That continued a precipitous rise in his ERA since the All-Star break, which is at 7.00 across five outings, raising his season-long mark from 2.43 to 3.26.
But what makes matters worse for the Yankees and fans who were peacocking over taking Fried from the rival Red Sox is that, not only has Crochet been better and maintaining that for Boston, but their No. 2 pitcher, Brayan Bello, now officially is having as good of a season as their ace in Fried.
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Yankees ace Max Fried being outshined by Red Sox No. 2 Brayan Bello
Despite the fact that even Red Sox fans were hesitant to call Bello a No. 2 starter coming into the season, the young right-hander has officially broken out in the 2025 season with phenomenal work. And after Fried's recent skid, the two pitchers are nearly identical in terms of their performance this year. Just take a look at the numbers.
- Max Fried in 2025: 3.26 ERA | 1.121 WHIP | 141 Ks | 37 BBs | 125 ERA+ | 149.0 IP
- Brayan Bello in 2025: 3.23 ERA | 1.258 WHIP | 97 Ks | 45 BBs | 126 ERA+ | 128.0 IP
Obviously, Fried has been a better strikeout pitcher and has gotten more work, though it should be said that Bello has three fewer starts after beginning the season unavailable due to an injury. When you just look at the runs they've allowed across the plate, though, Bello has been every bit as effective as Fried.
And the part that will irk Yankees fans the most about that is the difference in what that means. While Fried is a 31-year-old signed for $27.25 million through 2032, Bello is still only 26 years old and playing on an extension with the Red Sox that keeps him with the club through at least the 2029 season (a $21 million club option in 2030) with an average annual value of just over $9 million.
Now, make no mistake, the track record in the two pitchers' respective careers is in Fried's favor. This is by far the best we've ever seen from Bello while the post-All-Star slump for Fried might be some of the worst we've seen from the former Brave. There's a better than good chance that water finds its level in that Fried turns to consistently outperforming the Red Sox' second starter in the rotation.
That, however, won't stop Red Sox fans from puffing their chests out a bit knowing that Boston didn't pay $218 million for a pitcher who's performing on par with their No. 2 starter.