When the New York Yankees signed lefty ace Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal this past offseason, this kind of performance is exactly what they were hoping for. Regardless of whether Fried ends up making history during his time in pinstripes, he’s already lived up to the hype — and maybe even exceeded his success with the Atlanta Braves.
Fried isn’t overpowering in the traditional sense; instead, he thrives on precision, smarts, and outwitting hitters rather than relying on sheer velocity or spin rate. That style was on full display Sunday afternoon at George Steinbrenner Field — fittingly, the Yankees’ spring training home.
Max Fried
In that familiar setting, Fried delivered a masterful performance, flirting with history through seven innings. His success was due in large part to his strengths on the mound, as already noted. But there was one particular moment that stood out and gave Fried an unexpected second shot at a potential no-hitter.
Rays speedster Chandler Simpson hit a soft grounder between the mound and first base. Fried and a few Yankees infielders gave chase, but there was little chance of making a play in time — Simpson’s speed made that clear. The ball slipped under first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s glove and was initially scored as an error. That call raised some eyebrows.
Thankfully, the official scorer later reversed the decision, correctly awarding Simpson a hit. Still, in real time, calling it an error felt unfair — not just to Fried, but to the many pitchers who’ve earned no-hitters the hard way. Achievements like that shouldn’t come with an asterisk or benefit from overly generous scoring.
Sure, if a fielder had a clean shot at the ball and a legitimate chance to get Simpson out, you’d have a case for the error. But baseball is unpredictable. A rocket off the bat can become an out, while a weak dribbler can be a hit. That’s part of what makes no-hitters so rare.
In the end, the scorer made the right call — but fans shouldn’t have had to hold their breath over something that should’ve been obvious.
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