The Max Fried phone call that led to Tarik Skubal getting All-Star start

Before Tarik Skubal learned he’d be the American League’s starter at the All-Star Game, he received a call — and a question — from Max Fried.

The Yankees’ ace asked Skubal if he wanted to serve as the opening pitcher, and then added that “I think you deserve it,” according to MLive.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to start it,” Skubal, who did, recalled Fried saying.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone — managing the AL after winning the pennant in 2024 — eventually called a day later with the news, with Skubal starting alongside the National League’s Paul Skenes during the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday.

“It was actually a really cool conversation [with Fried],” Skubal said, according to MLive. “It’s a very professional thing to do, and I’ve got a ton of respect for guys that do stuff like that.”

It’s unclear when the conversation specifically occurred, but Fried, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Braves before inking a $218 million deal in free agency, had emerged as an option to start before getting replaced by Carlos Rodón on the All-Star Game roster last week.

The game will occur at Atlanta’s Truist Park, and Fried had resembled the ace the Yankees envisioned with an ERA that sat at 1.92 when the calendar flipped to July — though it has since climbed to 2.43 after his last three outings.

“Just a lot of machinations,” Boone said Friday of the decision for Fried to get replaced for the All-Star Game. “He’s obviously pitching [Saturday], so it’s a little shorter turnaround. We’ve worked through it a lot over these last couple days.”

Fried then exited his start one day later after just three innings and 73 pitches with a blister on his finger, which is an issue that has prompted trips to the injured list in past seasons. 

Skubal won the American League’s Cy Young Award last season and, at just 28 years old, has emerged as one of MLB’s top young pitchers alongside Skenes.

Across his first 19 starts in 2025, he collected a 2.23 ERA, and he threw at least six innings in 13 of those outings while allowing more than three earned runs in just four.