NEW YORK — Early on this season, the Yankees were practically unbeatable when Max Fried took the mound. That ace version of Fried has been missing in action over these last several weeks, a debilitating trend that continued on Sunday afternoon in the Yankees’ series finale against the Astros.

When the Yankees first signed Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal, the plan was for him to be the Robin to Gerrit Cole’s Batman. But Cole underwent Tommy John surgery during spring training,