The Yankees have placed starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt on the 15-day injured list with right forearm tightness. In additional pitching transactions, the team optioned Clayton Beeter to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday and recalled Scott Effross and Jayvien Sandridge this morning.
Schmidt, 29, exited early on Thursday after giving up three runs in three innings against the Blue Jays and later revealed that he has been nursing some tightness in his forearm for a month (per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). He is going for imaging today (per Greg Joyce of the New York Post), which is worrisome enough, but the fact that the team placed him on the IL before his MRI is further cause for concern. Joyce suggests that it is not yet clear if the Yankees will be able to offer an update on Schmidt by the end of the day today.
The right-hander sat out the first three weeks of the season with rotator cuff tendonitis. Upon his return, however, he picked up right where he left off in 2024 (another injury-shortened but nonetheless successful campaign). Through 16 starts this year, Schmidt has pitched to a 3.32 ERA and 4.23 SIERA. Add that to his 16 starts from last year, and you get a 3.07 ERA and 3.97 SIERA through 30 starts and 164 innings. In other words, it’s not hard to see why he’s so important to the middle of the Yankees’ rotation and why losing him to the IL again would be a significant loss for the club.
New York’s rotation was already stretched thin with Gerrit Cole out for the year, Luis Gil out since spring training with a lat strain, and Ryan Yarbrough recently hitting the IL with a strained oblique. Max Fried and Carlos Rodón make for as good of a top two as you’ll find on any AL club, but Will Warren has been wildly inconsistent in his rookie season, and Marcus Stroman only just returned from a long IL stint of his own. The only other healthy starter on the 40-man roster is 29-year-old Allan Winans, who has excelled at Triple-A but has a career 7.38 ERA over 10 MLB games. JT Brubaker can also start, but he has been pitching out of the bullpen this year and has not started in the majors since 2022. According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, the team considers pitching prospect Cam Schlittler a potential option for the rotation in the second half, but it’s unclear if they would call him up sooner. He has been excellent in the minors this season, but this is only his third professional campaign, and he only has five starts at Triple-A under his belt. So, if Schmidt misses significant time – and even if he doesn’t – the Yankees could seek some outside help for the rotation as they look to regain first place in the AL East.
With his luck it’ll be TJS. Dude can’t catch a break. Helluva talent.
Usually is with forearm tightness.
All non contenders that have starters available on expiring contracts should start the marketing process.
the dreaded forearm tightness.
Forearm tightness, elbow soreness, all the description for the opinion TJS…
Time for Will Warren to take one for the team and donate his UCL to Clarke.
Schlittler got pumped in his last AAA start so that probably puts the brakes on any idea of a promotion for now. Maybe trade season will start early if the Yanks are desperate enough for an arm.
The short term safe play is to start Brubaker. He was stretched out to about 70 pitches a few weeks back. Assuming he doesn’t wet the bed he’d be up to 90 pitches by his 3rd start if needed. I’d really prefer to keep Carasco off the MLB staff. Gil is coming back by the end of July.
I’d prefer a 3rd baseman before a SP but Cashman doesn’t answer my calls…
A month? Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
Its time for a Tommy John. Yankees will need to get some pitching at the trade deadline. This guy is done.
pull him from a no hitter, keep his arm in shape, and then he gets a TJ anyhow. Should of let him pitch for the no hitter.
So they have known about the forearm tightness for a month and now send him for imaging. If he needs TJ (AGAIN) people need to lose their jobs over this, absolute negligence
While I feel for Clarke, injuries will be used as an excuse for a bad season if they miss the playoffs, instead of poor roster construction.
@kiwimobfan – While the team can blame injuries for Cole, Stanton and others, they can also thank injuries for providing chances to others (Rice, Grisham, Warren, Yarbrough).
Uh oh. Pitching staff falling apart.