TAMPA — Clarke Schmidt bounced back well from Monday’s bullpen session, but even that might not be enough to have him ready to start the season on time.
The Yankees’ plan as of Tuesday is to have Schmidt, who was scratched from Monday’s scheduled start with shoulder fatigue, throw live batting practice on Thursday.
Even if that goes well, he would only have enough time to make one more outing before Opening Day, which would likely only get him built up to somewhere around 50 pitches — and that’s if everything goes well with his recovery.
So as the Yankees begin to internally discuss final roster decisions a week away from breaking camp, they are weighing whether to carry Schmidt on their initial roster with limited length or have him start the season on the injured list so he can finish off his buildup properly in Tampa.
“It just depends, do we want to keep building him up for another start or two?” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday after a 4-4 tie with the Red Sox. “That’ll be the question we have to answer. Obviously he’s not going to be up to a pitch level. So we’ll make that call here, does it make the most sense to get him up there and build him there or make more sense — because I think he has a start around Opening Day, do you give him one [more]? We’ll see.”
Schmidt threw 38 pitches in his first and only Grapefruit League start last week and indicated on Tuesday that his next outing would likely be somewhere around the same pitch count.
If Schmidt starts the season on the IL, that would allow the Yankees to begin the season with both Carlos Carrasco (who has a March 22 opt-out if he is not added to the roster) and Will Warren in the rotation.
That appears the likelier scenario at this point rather than rushing Schmidt back, especially after already having lost Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) for the season and Luis Gil (lat strain) until at least June.
Paul Goldschmidt got treatment on his sore back Tuesday after coming out of Monday’s game after just two at-bats. The 37-year-old first baseman was originally set to play again on Wednesday but the Yankees may give him an extra day or two to make sure the issue is taken care of.
“I saw him this morning and he wasn’t real concerned about it,” Boone said. “We’ll make sure we take our time with it and give it what it needs, but I would expect him back in there Thursday or Friday.”
Count Alex Cora among those who think the Yankees will be fine this season despite the mounting injuries they have dealt with this spring.
One reason why?
“That guy over there [Boone], I know he gets a lot of s–t from people, but man, he’s one of the best in the business,” said the Red Sox manager, who is good friends with Boone.
Aaron Judge collected his first extra-base hit of the spring Tuesday, drilling a 400-foot double off the wall in left-center field. … Marcus Stroman will start the split-squad game against the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon before Carrasco gets the nightcap against the Braves.
Catcher Rafael Flores and right-hander Cam Schlittler were named the winners of the 2024 Kevin Lawn Awards as Yankees minor league Position Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. Both opened some eyes in big league camp this spring and are likely to start the season at Double-A or Triple-A.
