Yankees activating Fried early for doubleheader vs. Pirates - ESPN

NEW YORK — Max Fried will come off the injured list ahead of schedule Wednesday to pitch for the New York Yankees in the second game of their day-night doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The ace left-hander has been sidelined since May 14 because of a left elbow bone bruise and had been lined up to make a second minor league rehab start Wednesday. But after Tuesday's game was postponed because of bad weather, the Yankees announced Gerrit Cole to start the opener of Wednesday's twin bill and slated Fried for Game 2.

«That sets us up from a starting standpoint in Philadelphia and beyond,» Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, looking ahead to his team's weekend series. «Max was way on board with it. I think it makes a ton of sense and we can continue to build him this way.»

A three-time All-Star, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts for New York this season. He tossed three innings last Friday in a rehab outing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Worcester, allowing two runs and five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. He threw 52 pitches, 32 for strikes.

The next day, Boone said Fried would make at least one more rehab start in the minors before rejoining the big league rotation.

But the Yankees' plans changed when Tuesday night's scheduled game against the Pirates was postponed and set to be made up as part of New York's second doubleheader in a four-day span.

The regularly scheduled game begins at 1:05 p.m. and the makeup at 7:05 p.m.

«He's ready to go. He's been ready for a while,» Boone said. «It's just about getting him built up. So, obviously, he doesn't have a full clip yet.»

Will Warren had been slated to start Tuesday night against fellow right-hander Bubba Chandler and the Pirates. The