Max Fried takes huge step in injury recovery with Triple-A rehab start

Of all the key Yankees currently on the injured list, Max Fried has a chance to be the first one back. The left-hander took a significant step in making that happen Friday night when he started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — throwing 52 pitches across three innings while giving up two runs and no walks with three strikeouts — just over two months removed from landing on the IL with a left elbow bone bruise.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.If he recovers from Friday’s game without issue, Fried is expected to make at least one more rehab start Wednesday before the Yankees will discuss whether he is ready to rejoin the rotation, though he would not be fully built up at that point. “Obviously, tonight’s another important step for him,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees fell to the Dodgers 2-1 to begin the season’s second half. Fried presumably would get to around 60 pitches in his next start, making it possible he could return to the big leagues after that on a pitch count around 70 and finish off his buildup from there. In the meantime, the Yankees will need to fill his rotation spot Tuesday against the Pirates, though Boone said they had not yet decided whether they would do so by calling up a fifth starter (à la Elmer Rodríguez) or throwing a bullpen game, like they did against the Rays before the All-Star break. The Yankees have already used three of Rodríguez’s five minor league options this season, so they need to be deliberate in when they use the final two the rest of the season. “It could be similar to what we did in Tampa with having the extra reliever, but we got to see how these handful of games unfold and then we’ll make a call as to what we need that second game against the Pirates,” Boone said. Fellow lefty Carlos Rodón (left elbow inflammation) threw about 10 pitches off the b...