Yankees' trade needs: How Clarke Schmidt's injury changes things
Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts during a game against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on June 28. Credit: Ed Murray
Clarke Schmidt’s season-ending injury further complicated what already was shaping up as a challenging trade deadline for the Yankees.
Because, as much as it seemed assured back in the spring that the Yankees would be aggressively pursuing starting pitching before the July 31 deadline, the way the rotation performed much of the first half made it a lower priority on general manager Brian Cashman’s already fairly hefty to-do list.
The No. 1 priority on that list was securing a big back-end-of-the-bullpen arm, something the Yankees organizationally felt they needed even before Fernando Cruz recently went down with an oblique injury.
And, though it was treated as news last week that the Yankees were exploring third base options who can hit, that process started for them during December’s winter meetings in Dallas when they were telling rival teams it was an area of want. That interest, especially when DJ LeMahieu went down early in spring training with an injury, never really let up.
Schmidt’s injury, and subsequent announcement by Aaron Boone on Saturday that it was all but “inevitable” the righthander would be undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery, didn’t displace any of those needs that were higher on the priority list.
It just put rotation help at the same level of need.
So thin are the Yankees in that department at the moment, they plan to call up one of their top pitching prospects, Cam Schlittler, to take a rotation turn this week, likely on Wednesday. Though Schlittler, a seventh-round pick of the Yankees in the 2022 draft, has shown plenty of potential in his development, the reality is the only reason the 24-year-old righthander is being elevated so quickly to the big leagues — about a month after his promotion to Triple-A — is because of the organization’s lack of starting pitching depth.
Schlittler essentially was seen as the least bad rotation option in Triple-A, with veterans Allan Winans and Carlos Carrasco the others
“He’s close but probably could use another few months in the minors,” one rival AL scout who is assigned to the Yankees' system said of Schlittler. “Fastball command needs to improve. He got some swing and miss off his fastball in the minor leagues that he probably won’t get vs. major league hitters as the zone shrinks some. Minor league hitters chased some of his pitches. Either way, he’s not the starter you need to get to October. You’re going to need someone with a track record, not someone who is trying to break in.”
Currently, only Max Fried (11-2 with a 2.27 ERA) and Carlos Rodon (9-6, 3.30) are pitchers the Yankees feel they can count on to consistently churn out competitive starts, though the frequency with which Rodon gets touched by the long ball (15 homers allowed this season after allowing 31 last season) will always be a concern.
Will Warren has certainly flashed far more good than bad in his first full season as a big-league starter, but the bottom line is the righthander is 5-4 with a 5.02 ERA.
Marcus Stroman just returned from an extended stay on the IL because of left knee inflammation and there’s no predicting just how effective the 34-year-old can be the rest of the season. Ryan Yarbrough, who started the season as the club’s long man, pitched well after slotting into the fifth spot in the rotation in early May. But the lefthander, never seen as a long-term fix when it came to the rotation anyway, has yet to start a throwing program since landing on the IL with an oblique strain on June 22.
Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is slated soon to begin a rehab assignment and the power righty certainly could provide a rotation boost, but the 27-year-old is still 3-4 weeks, at best, from returning. With nothing guaranteed insofar as performance once he does.
The impact of the loss of Schmidt, 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA, cannot be overstated but it didn’t make the significant needs in the bullpen and at third base any less important.
And given the number of contending teams looking for some of the same things before July 31 — starters and relievers especially — none of those holes will be easily filled.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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