The Yankees are likely to reinstate Clarke Schmidt from the 60-day injured list before Wednesday’s series finale in Minnesota, manager Aaron Boone told Gary Phillips of The New York Daily News. They optioned Bradley Hanner to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre tonight to clear a spot in the bullpen.
New York will need to make another move tomorrow that’ll open a 40-man roster spot. Fernando Cruz (partially torn UCL) is a candidate for a move to the 60-day injured list if they don’t want to designate anyone for assignment. However, the Yanks preferred to expose Chase Hampton to waivers over shutting Cruz down for the season when Aaron Judge returned last week. Angel Chivilli has been on the Triple-A injured list for a month and could also be recalled and placed on the MLB IL.
Schmidt will have a week and a half to try to pitch his way into the postseason bullpen. It’ll be his first MLB work since he underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2025. Schmidt has made five rehab appearances between the top two minor league levels, working 1-2 inning stints in short relief. He averaged 94.1 mph on his four-seam fastball in Triple-A, right in line with his pre-injury velocity.
Although there’s not enough time for Schmidt to build up as a starter this year, that’s presumably the role the Yankees envision for him in 2027. A former first-round pick, he developed into a mid-rotation arm between 2023-25. The South Carolina product combined for a 3.85 ERA with a slightly above-average strikeout and walk profile across 323 frames.
The Yankees have a strong bullpen overall but have a couple middle relief spots up for grabs going into October. David Bednar, Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn are their top options at the back end. Late-season acquisitions John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer are competing for middle innings roles alongside lefties Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough.
They’re not going to use a five-man rotation in October, so Will Warren seems ticketed for a playoff bullpen role. (That’s also true of Ryan Weathers if he’s healthy.) Carlos Rodón might also be a relief option for the Wild Card Series if the Yankees are unable to erase a 3.5-game deficit behind the Rays. The first round is a three-game series, meaning only one of Rodón or Gerrit Cole would need to be held back as a starter behind Cam Schlittler and Max Fried.
