Max Fried moves one step closer to Yankees rehab start

Max Fried is one step closer to his return.The Yankees ace threw another live batting practice on Sunday as he continues to recover from a left elbow bone bruise, which has sidelined him since mid-May.In his second live throwing session since then, Fried reached 36 pitches as he faced teammates Ryan McMahon and Ali Sánchez.And Aaron Boone was pleased with the lefty’s latest outing.“It’s been good, it’s been a good run-up for him, and obviously another step today,” the manager said.Boone — who was only able to watch part of the session — added that Fried has “recovered really well” and predicted that he would throw another live session on Thursday or Friday.After that, the next step for Fried would be a rehab start.In Sunday’s throwing session, the 32-year-old did not allow a home run but did see several balls hit deep into the outfield.Fried also drew some swinging strikes as he continues to ramp back up.Nonetheless, his continued recovery is good news for a Yankees team, which has hit a major skid and lost eight of its last nine games entering Sunday’s matchup against the Twins.Before exiting his May 13 start against the Orioles, Fried had started the season in strong fashion. His ERA sits at 3.21 in 61 ⅔ innings, and he’s walked just 2.8 batters per nine innings.With both Carlos Rodon (left elbow inflammation) and Clarke Schmidt (recovering from a torn right UCL) both on the injured list as well, the Yankees could certainly use Fried back sooner than later.Sunday was a positive step in that direction....