Fried Will Fry The Orioles On Friday

Orioles vs. Yankees, 7:05 ET

We are rapidly approaching the 4th of July which means the All-Star Break isn't that much further away either. In just a few short weeks teams will be announced, homers will be bombed, and players will take the field for the Midsummer Classic. We are also about a week away from the official middle of the year. The halfway point in a season is always a good opportunity to look at who has done well, and who needs a boost to make the second half of the season even remotely meaningful. Let's start with the Orioles and Yankees who square off today.

The Orioles are well below .500 and the only team in the division that is below .500. That sentence might not be true for long, as a lot of teams have ebbed and flowed above and below the mark this year. However, it looks like Baltimore is not going to find the above water mark at any point. This is a club with a lot of talent, but they are likely to trade away a lot of it during the deadline. The truth is, they have had two very good seasons in a row and no postseason success. Now they are faced with a down year and the club could look at it that way or ship out talent and try yet another rebuild. Considering ownership has already kind of made comments about not being able to afford everyone, I'd expect the latter. Today, they send out Tomoyuki Sugano to the mound to try and steal a win against the division leaders. Sugano is having a nice year despite the team's struggles. To this point in the season. Sugano is 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. The biggest issue with Sugano is that he hasn't been able to be overly consistent. He has made 14 starts with half going five innings or fewer, and half going over six innings. He has allowed over three earned runs in just one start, however. One of his best starts was against the Yankees where he allowed five hits and no runs in five innings. 

Jun 14, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (19) throws during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Yankees are well above .500 and with a monster like Aaron Judge on the team, it is really no surprise. I think the craziest thing about this season is that he continues to get pitched to. Outside of Barry Bonds, I don't think I've ever really season anyone quite like this. He is literally a game changer any time he steps to the plate. Consider this - he is in a slump, technically, but he is still batting over .360 and has over 25 home runs. The slump is that he's lost .030 on his batting average over the past month. Another dude who is still killing it for the Yankees is today's starter, Max Fried. Fried should be the AL Cy Young frontrunner, but Tarik Skubal might have something to say about that. Fried is 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Surprisingly, his ERA is even lower at home than it is overall. He has exactly one start this season where he has allowed more than two earned runs in a game and it was against the Dodgers. Orioles hitters have done next to nothing against him with just seven hits in 38 at-bats against him. 

The Yankees will win this game. With Fried on the mound, they will probably win most of their games. The Orioles do have a chance considering that Sugano has been one of - if not the - best pitchers on the team. However, this is a matchup between a bad team and a good one. Back the Yankees to win the game on the run line. I think it could be close through five then Sugano leaves and the Yankees run up the score. 

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