Max Fried was the big starting pitching acquisition for the New York Yankees. For the Milwaukee Brewers, it was Nestor Cortes, who spent five seasons in Yankee pinstripes.
The left-handers will oppose each other Saturday afternoon when Fried makes his debut for the Yankees and Cortes his for the Brewers in his return to New York.
The Yankees signed Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal on Dec. 17, four days after trading Cortes to Milwaukee for closer Devin Williams. Williams needed 36 pitches to close out Thursday's 4-2 win against his former team by striking out Christian Yelich with runners in scoring position.
Fried joined Carlos Rodon as the second big pitching free agent signing in three seasons to give the Yankees a strong trio along with Gerrit Cole. With Cole sidelined following Tommy John surgery, Fried and Rodon are the top two starters for the Yankees, who survived 75 games without Cole last season and saw their starting pitchers post a 3.85 ERA.
"There's obviously a flood of emotions," Fried said Thursday morning. "I'm really excited to get out there in Yankee Stadium for the first time but also trying to ground myself."
Fried was 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA in seven-plus seasons with the Braves. He earned top-five finishes in the National League Cy Young voting in 2020 and 2022.
During spring training, Fried was 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his four starts.
The 31-year-old is 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA in five career starts against the Brewers. Rhys Hoskins (5-for-29) and Yelich (3-for-17) have extensive experience facing him.
The Brewers traded for Cortes and his crafty arsenal with a low-90s fastball. He highlighted his time with the Yankees by going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 2022 resulting in an All-Star appearance.
"I'm really proud of who Nestor became with us, really establishing himself in this league, making an All-Star team which I predicted for him," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "It'll be good to see him. Hopefully we can get to him a little bit and beat him up and then he goes on and has a great year."
Cortes, 30, was 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 31 appearances (30 starts) last season and made two appearances in the World Series after missing time with a forearm injury.
"I'm excited to face everybody," Cortes said. "I think it's a good opportunity to see where I'm at and how I match up with those guys. I think it's going to be a fun matchup."
Cortes is sporting platinum blond hair and is facing some of his former teammates after pitching 11 innings in a pair of spring training starts.
"He's a wonderful guy," Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said before Cortes received a nice reception from fans during baseline introductions. "He's serious about his craft. He's at the same time really aware of being in new surroundings and really caring to his teammates. He's made a very favorable impression on everybody as a teammate. So that part's been good. We know he can pitch."
Cortes' lone appearance against the Yankees came April 7, 2018, in a relief outing for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles picked him up in the Rule 5 draft and returned him to the Yankees six days after that outing.
Aside from seeing how Cortes fares against his former teammates, the Brewers are hoping to bounce back from a rough day at the plate. The Brewers struck out 13 times, five of them belonging to leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio.
--Field Level Media
