Max Fried was never going to get too high or low about his Yankees debut.
The left-hander said as much going into Saturday afternoon’s 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the Bronx — his first outing since signing an eight-year, $218 million contract in the offseason.
“There’s obviously a flood of emotions,” Fried said Thursday in anticipation of Saturday’s start. “I’m really excited to get out there and start at Yankee Stadium for the first time, but also trying to ground myself enough to know it’s just one of 33 starts.”
And although the Yankees scored 16 runs with Fried in the game, he will have to wait until at least his second start to pick up his first victory.
That’s because five Yankee errors made for a long afternoon for Fried, who surrendered six runs — only two of which were earned — over 4.2 innings.
Milwaukee scored its second run of the day when shortstop Anthony Volpe, attempting to turn an inning-ending double play, leapt over a sliding Vinny Capra and threw wide of first base, allowing Garrett Mitchell to score.
Two batters later, with runners on the corners and two outs, Fried committed a run-scoring error of his own on a slow Christian Yelich comebacker when his throw pulled first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off the bag.
A fielding error by third baseman Pablo Reyes with two outs in the top of fourth extended that inning, and Rhys Hoskins followed with an RBI single that deflected off of Volpe’s glove.
In the fifth, back-to-back one-out errors by Reyes and Jazz Chisholm Jr. prolonged another inning, leading to two more unearned runs. The last of those runs scored on a two-out RBI single by Yelich, chasing Fried from a 16-6 game.
He was one out shy of pitching the five innings he needed for a win.
Fried finished with four strikeouts against seven hits, two walks and two hit batters. He threw seven different pitches, including a four-seam fastball he dialed up to 98 mph.
The Yankees expect there to be more wins in Fried’s future.
Fried, who spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Atlanta Braves, was the Yankees’ first major addition as they pivoted following Juan Soto’s free-agent departure to the Mets.
Entering Saturday, the 31-year-old Fried’s 3.08 ERA over the last six seasons ranked third among starters with at least 800 innings, while his 71 wins ranked second.
Fried earned two All-Star selections, two top-five finishes in National League Cy Young Award voting and three Gold Gloves during that stretch.
“He’s been really engaging,” manager Aaron Boone said before Saturday’s game. “A lot of fun to be around. Interesting guy to talk to. I feel like he’s proud to be a Yankee. That’s kind of cool to experience. I think he’s leaned into everything he can.”
Fried’s addition was part of an offseason all about improving run prevention for the Yankees, whose defense faltered during last fall’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They also added Gold Glove winners in Goldschmidt and center fielder Cody Bellinger.
His signing also gave the Yankees a surplus of starting pitching over the winter, which allowed them to trade Nestor Cortes to the Brewers in a package for closer Devin Williams. Cortes started Saturday for Milwaukee and struggled badly, surrendering five home runs — including back-to-back-to-back blasts on his first three pitches — in two innings.
The Yankees envisioned Fried forming a dynamic one-two punch with ace Gerrit Cole, but his presence looms even larger after Cole underwent season-ending elbow surgery this month.
“We’re going to miss Gerrit, ...
