Yankees’ Aaron Boone provides important pitching injury update

The New York Yankees are forced to play through the entire 2025 campaign knowing that Gerrit Cole, one of the game’s top starting pitchers, is not available. Championship aspirations tend to evaporate when such a long-term setback takes effect, but there other hurlers in this rotation who can push the club forward in Cole’s absence. They just need to stay healthy themselves.

Both American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil and former first-round draft pick Clarke Schmidt are currently on the injured list, but the latter is making encouraging progress in his recovery from rotator cuff tendinitis.

Schmidt is making a rehab start for the Double-A Somerset Patriots on Saturday, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Assuming he holds his own and subsequently responds well to the workload, the right-hander should be in line to meet manager Aaron Boone’s target return range of April 15-16.

Following the deluge of injuries that flooded the Yankees during spring training, this is a potential lucky break that could soon give the pitching rotation a key boost. Max Fried is an ace when healthy, but Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman are both wild cards at this point of their respective careers and Will Warren has minimal experience. Schmidt is the X-factor in this starting staff.

Yankees are hoping Clarke Schmidt can give them a larger sample size

Before suffering a lat strain in late-may, he was sneakily among the most reliable arms in the league last season and even morphed into a strikeout threat– 2.85 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. Durability is always a question with this particular arm, however. Considering the nature of the injury, there is obviously concern that the 29-year-old’s late-March rotator cuff issue resurfaces during the regular season.

The Yankees depend on Clarke Schmidt, now more than ever, to lengthen the starting rotation and log a sizable share of innings. The “next man up” philosophy can only go so deep. This one-time top prospect must continue to showcase the promise that first charmed general manager Brian Cashman almost a decade ago.

Schmidt cannot fulfill his potential until he returns to an MLB mound, though. Saturday afternoon’s outing with Somerset might determine when that day arrives.