BREAKING: Yankees’ Dynamic Pitching Duo on Verge of Making MLB History in 2025—Here’s How!

The Yankees’ pitching staff has been nothing short of elite this season. They lead the league in opponents’ batting average, rank top eight in ERA, and sit within the top five in both WHIP and strikeouts—all without their ace, Gerrit Cole, who’s been sidelined after undergoing Tommy John surgery during spring training.

A huge part of that success comes from Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, who’ve both performed at ace levels.

Fried has been sensational, posting an 8-1 record with a 1.78 ERA across 81 innings. It’s the best start to a Yankee pitcher’s season since Phil Niekro in 1984. Each time he takes the mound, he validates the hefty investment made by GM Brian Cashman—right now, there may be no better pitcher in baseball.

Rodón has been just as dominant, carrying an 8-3 record and a 2.49 ERA into a primetime Sunday night matchup with the Red Sox. His strikeout numbers are eye-popping: 98 K’s in 79.2 innings. Even more impressive, he leads all MLB pitchers in batting average against, holding hitters to a mere .167 clip.

This is the version of Rodón the Yankees hoped for when they signed him back in 2022. After a rocky start to his tenure in New York, he’s not just bounced back—he’s arguably better than ever, even compared to his All-Star campaigns with the White Sox and Giants.

Fried and Rodón Could Make History

Together, Fried and Rodón form what may be the best one-two pitching combo in the majors right now—and they might even chase history.

If one of them wins the AL Cy Young and the other finishes runner-up, it would mark just the fifth time in MLB history that a team has produced the top two Cy Young finishers in the same season. The last time it happened? 2019, when Justin Verlander and then-Astro Gerrit Cole went 1-2 for Houston.

That said, the path to that kind of finish won’t be easy. The American League is stacked with dominant arms, including Tarik Skubal, Hunter Brown, and Garrett Crochet, who are all having standout seasons.

Still, with plenty of baseball left, anything can happen—injuries, slumps, or simple bad luck can shake up the leaderboard. If things break their way, Fried and Rodón have a real shot at making history in pinstripes. Both are already ranked among the top 10 pitchers in MLB by MLB.com, and by season’s end, they might be the top two in the American League.