After making his second rehab start with Double-A Somerset on Thursday, Clarke Schmidt is just about ready to make his season debut for the Yankees.
The right-hander, who battled a cranky back and shoulder fatigue in spring training, is expected to slot into the Yankees’ rotation on April 15 or 16 against the Royals. Schmidt threw four scoreless innings on Thursday while tallying three hits, zero walks and four strikeouts against the Reading Fightin Phils.
Clarꓘe Schmidt’s second rehab start is in the books📘
4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K🔥 pic.twitter.com/7pFIv9MR5c
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 10, 2025
On Friday, Aaron Boone said he received a “really good” report on Schmidt’s performance. The manager also liked what he saw with his own eyes, but didn’t want to make any official decisions with the Yankees and Giants expecting inclement weather in the Bronx.
“I just actually watched his outing a couple hours ago,” Boone said. “I thought he was sharp. Good, strong, four innings, 61 pitches, so we’ll probably insert him now in five or six days. But that being said, I haven’t even seen him yet, and I want to kind of get through today with weather and see where we’re at.”
Asked how Schmidt’s return will impact the Yankees’ rotation, Boone again mentioned getting through Friday’s game.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Let’s play tonight and see where we’re at, and then we’ll kind of map that out a little bit.”
Assuming others stay healthy, Schmidt would likely replace one of two rotation members: Will Warren or Carlos Carrasco.
Warren has a minor league option, so the Yankees could send the rookie down without fear of losing him. That is not the case with Carrasco, a veteran in his 16th season who cracked the Yankees’ rotation as a spring training non-roster invitee.
Warren, 25, has better stuff and more upside, though he has a 6.00 ERA after nine innings and two starts this season. He’s struggled toward the end of his outings and been bitten by two-out walks.
Carrasco, 38, has a 7.71 ERA over 11.2 innings (3 games, 2 starts). He’s also displayed some of the worst stuff in baseball through his young Yankees career.
However, the Bombers don’t have much experienced depth in the minor leagues outside of Brent Headrick, who is not stretched out, and Allan Winans, so they’re not in a position to let pitchers walk. That could work in Carrasco’s favor when the Yankees welcome Schmidt back.
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