DENVER — Back when Aaron Judge still had to face Max Fried, whenever he did get on first base, he would not budge until the ball crossed the plate.
Perhaps opposing teams will eventually adapt that approach, but until then, the Yankees are better off for it as Fried continues to unleash his deadly pickoff move.
The left-hander nabbed a pair of runners at first base in a span of three innings Saturday, allowing him to settle into another strong outing as the Yankees spanked the Rockies 13-1 at Coors Field.
“It’s disgusting,” Cody Bellinger said with a chuckle.
“Just from the times I’ve faced him and been on first base, I don’t think I’ve moved,” Judge said. “I think I’ve just stared at him and waited till I saw that ball in the catcher’s glove before I took my lead. It’s impressive.”
On a day when he gave up just one run across 7 ¹/₃ innings, Fried gave up a pair of singles in the first three innings.
But both were quickly erased at first base on pickoffs to eliminate any kind of momentum for the Rockies.
Fried finished his outing leading the majors with five pickoffs this season.
“I take pride in being able to control the running game,” Fried said. “Being able to keep them station to station and not take second base is a big one, especially putting them in scoring position. I enjoy it.”
Fried nearly had a third pickoff Saturday, but his throw got past Paul Goldschmidt at first base and led to the only run the Rockies scored off him.
“It’s the best move I’ve seen,” Goldschmidt said. “Definitely remember being on first base as an opposing base runner and trying to stay as close to the base as possible. Fortunately I get to see it a lot more, so I get used to it a little bit more.
“Sometimes you see guys hold runners and then they’re not executing their pitch to the hitter. He does such a good job where he’s paying full attention to the base runner, but also executing his pitches.”
Fernando Cruz (shoulder inflammation) played catch in the outfield Saturday morning as he continued to keep his arm active since landing on the injured list Thursday.
“That was a good sign,” Boone said. “He did all his plyo ball stuff [Friday] into throwing today. So that was encouraging. It was pretty good intensity to it. So he’ll have another recovery day of throwing [Sunday] and then as the week unfolds, hopefully we get him back on the mound sometime when we’re in California. But we’ll see.”
If that is the case, it’s possible that Cruz could end up just missing close to the minimum of 15 days, which was his hope from the start.
Jake Cousins, who was already on the injured list with a forearm strain before being shut down for a few days recently with a pec issue after his last live batting practice, threw a bullpen session of 30-plus pitches on Friday.
“[It] went well by all accounts,” Boone said. “Hopefully now work back to getting close to getting to that rehab assignment.”
Marcus Stroman (knee inflammation) threw another bullpen session Saturday at Coors Field, but it still remains to be seen when he will advance to facing hitters.
He last did so on May 9, when he was still experiencing discomfort in his knee.
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