NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan McMahon was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 2 left thumb sprain Friday, but the New York Yankees third baseman said he'll just miss the minimum amount of time.
“Not great news. Could have been worse,” McMahon said before the Yankees opened a three-game series with Toronto. “Obviously I’m not happy with it, but thankful that most likely no surgery and just the minimal time.”
McMahon was injured on a play at second base in Wednesday’s 5-3 win at Baltimore. He singled in the second inning and jammed his thumb when he was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
“Just felt like it probably would have been a couple more days where he’s maybe a little bit compromised,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So I kind of don’t want to create anything habit-wise that’s bad, so just felt like probably the right thing to do here.”
McMahon said he felt fine in the field, but was having a difficult time swinging — though he was able to take swings in the batting cage.
“I feel like with what these games meaning as much as they are down the stretch, me going out there at 50% probably wasn’t the best,” McMahon said.
McMahon is hitting .218 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs in 108 games. McMahon also missed 10 games earlier this season with a throat infection.
To fill McMahon’s roster spot, Max Schuemann was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Schuemann batted .194 in 40 games earlier this season, but his stay on the Yankees could be short if Cody Bellinger is ready to return from a left hamstring strain.
Bellinger started his minor league rehabilitation assignment Thursday, was scheduled to play again Friday before taking Saturday off and could return Sunday.
Fried will throw a side session Saturday and if it goes well, the left-hander could be on track to return from the 15-day injured list when first eligible next week.
Fried was placed on the IL on Monday and the move was retroactive to last Friday, a day after he pitched five innings in a 1-0 loss to Seattle.
“I’ve been feeling good,” Fried said. “Not ideal coming out of my last start with a little soreness, but all in all we’re really encouraged.”
Fried missed 57 games with the same injury from May 14-July 22 after exiting a start in Baltimore with pain following three innings on May 13.
“Before, it was definitely more intense, more pain,” Fried said of the differences between injuries. “I would say that it felt similar, but on a smaller scale. I just wanted to be as transparent as I could be with the medical staff and coaching staff.”
Fried is 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 15 starts this season. He's 0-1 with a 1.82 ERA in five starts since returning from his first IL stint July 22.
“We’re encouraged,” Boone said. “I think the last couple of days have been good for him. Kind of talking to him, he probably could have made his last start maybe, but hopefully this gives (it) a chance to calm down a little bit, too. If everything goes well with that side tomorrow, then we could do a live (throwing session) at some point early in the week to hopefully set him up when he's eligible."
—
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon throws to first base but Toronto Blue Jays' Charles McAdoo was safe during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees' Ryan McMahon follows through on a two-run single during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon barehands the ball before throwing it to first base but Toronto Blue Jays' Charles McAdoo was safe during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — In a sign of how things have been going for Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz lately, being forced to fire his economy minister on Friday was not the worst news of his week.
Over the past seven days, Paz has been besieged on multiple fronts, challenging his capacity and weakening his already fragile political position.
His main congressional ally broke with his party, fracturing support for his agenda as he struggles to pull Bolivia away from nearly two decades of one-party socialist rule. An abrupt fuel price hike threatened to reignite public unrest. And his influential adviser was detained over the shooting of a woman who claims to have evidence of corruption inside his government.
“These are not easy times for the country,” Paz said on Thursday.
After a dizzying rise to power last year, Paz has spent his nine months in office growing accustomed to hard times.
Just six of the 15 ministers he originally appointed remain in their posts after a succession of political ruptures, corruption scandals and street protests. His partnership with Vice President Edman Lara — whose populist appeal helped Paz win last year's election — has rapidly deteriorated into open hostility. His efforts to shore up Bolivia’s scarce fuel supplies backfired when contaminated gasoline damaged more than 10,000 vehicles and led to the arrest of his ex-hydrocarbons minister. The seat of his government came under siege for almost eight weeks as dynamite-wielding protesters demanded his resignation.
Paz weathered it all. But analysts say the latest blows could pose his greatest challenge yet.
Here's a brief review of the week's damage in Bolivia:
Paz on Friday dismissed Economy Minister José Gabriel Espinoza, the architect of his government’s pro-market overhaul, days after Congress voted to force Espinoza out.
Lawmakers seized on a scandal surrounding Espinoza’s purchase of a luxury car and his failure to attend a congressional hearing about the economy to channel their mounting frustration over Bolivia’s stubborn inflation and chronic shortages of fuel and foreign currency reserves.
Prosecutors on Monday opened a criminal investigation into allegations that he falsified documents and misrepresented his income in connection with his purchase of an Audi Q4 for $5,000 — far below market value. He has attributed the discrepancy to a clerical error and denied wrongdoing.
Paz initially slammed the congressional vote as unconstitutional and insisted Espinoza would remain in office. But he soon changed course, exposing his weakness in Congress after the head of the center-right National Unity party, a crucial legislative ally, split with him last week over his reliance on presidential decrees.
“The vote on Espinoza showed the country what had until then been unclear: the true balance of power,” said Veronica Rocha, a Bolivian political analyst. “That balance is unfavorable to the government, which is now dependent on what other parties and lawmakers do.”
Espinoza's dismissal deprives Paz’s economic rescue effort of its chief strategist just as he needs Congress to approve a $1.9 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund, unlock a $200 million World Bank loan and pass legislation to bring dollars into Bolivia as discontent simmers over the pain of his fiscal adjustment.
After his government slashed long-standing generous fuel subsidies last year, driving up prices for ordinary Bolivians, it raised the price of diesel for bulk purchases by 84% this week, infuriating farmers and prompting calls for a mass strike.
“He's gotten some victories with the IMF deal, at least in principle, and with other multilateral loans,” said Casey Cagley, a senior adviser at Red Telescope Global, a Seattle-based strategic advisory firm, who studies Bolivia. “But that hasn’t translated into help with affordability or any significant reform.”
The week’s most explosive development came Tuesday, when Bolivian police arrested Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political strategist with close ties to Paz who has run digital strategy for right-wing leaders across the region including Argentine President Javier Milei and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Prosecutors charged Cerimedo with attempted femicide after two men disguised as delivery workers shot his former romantic partner, Bolivian lawyer Nadia Beller, three times outside a hotel. From her hospital bed, Beller, 33, accused Cerimedo of orchestrating the attack to silence her over evidence that she says implicates him and others close to Paz in corruption.
A medical report that Beller shared with The Associated Press documented wounds to her breast, arm, neck and shoulders, including a shattered bone requiring surgery, and said she was four to six weeks pregnant.
Cerimedo denied involvement in the attack, with his lawyer calling Beller's accusations a ploy to destabilize the government. Milei appeared to defend his former adviser on Thursday, reposting claims on X that her shooting was a “setup.”
Prosecutors then raided four properties linked to Cerimedo after Beller published photos of drawers stuffed with cash. They reported seizing more than 500,000 bolivianos — roughly $44,000 — along with undisclosed amounts of dollars and euros. Investigators also confiscated equipment they described as a “bot farm,” an automated network of fake social media accounts.
Late Friday, a judge in Santa Cruz ordered that he be detained for 180 days at a prison in the city while the case proceeds.
"This case could shake the government, so they need to respond to these allegations,” Sen. José Manuel Ormachea told reporters from Congress on Tuesday. “Otherwise, this chaos will leave them hanging by a thread.”
Paz’s government downplayed Cerimedo's influence, saying he was “a very important adviser during the campaign,” who is now "consulted from time to time.”
But his detractors, including Vice President Lara, disputed that account, describing the consultant as a powerful, shadowy figure who controlled communications and pushed government appointments.
"Paz may survive all of this,” Cagley said of the week's political setbacks. "But it’s going to be very, very bumpy."
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
FILE - Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz speaks during a ceremony at the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)
