Yankees Manager Aaron Boone announced that right-handed pitcher Clarke Schmidt should be activated tomorrow as expected, reported by Yankees beat writer Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News in a tweet this evening.
Schmidt, 30, has been recovering from Tommy John surgery and an “internal brace” that he had in July of 2025, which resulted in him missing half of the entire season last year and most of the regular season this year.
Schmidt has been rehabbing in minor league games over the last several weeks. Schmidt’s last appearance was on Saturday, September 12th, with the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate. Schmidt threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts out of the bullpen.
Schmidt, in five minor league appearances, has posted a 3.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts in seven innings pitched. The Yankees plan to use Schmidt out of the bullpen in this final home stretch of the regular season as they prepare for the postseason.
Schmidt originally came up as a starting pitcher in the Yankees organization. He was drafted in the first round (17th) overall by the Yankees in the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of South Carolina.
Schmidt made his big-league debut in 2020 and has compiled a career 3.82 ERA with 394 strikeouts, 393.1 innings pitched, and a 1.27 WHIP. Schmidt’s best season so far arguably came when he posted a 2.85 ERA in 16 games, but pitched only 85.1 innings.
Injuries have plagued Schmidt throughout his collegiate and professional career. When the Yankees drafted him, he was recovering from Tommy John surgery as a junior at South Carolina, but the Yankees liked him enough to draft him anyway that summer.
Schmidt has also dealt with forearm, hamstring, and rotator cuff injuries. He has also dealt with lat- and foot-related injuries from 2022-2024, on top of the elbow injuries, which have limited his appearances.
Schmidt has only thrown more than 100 innings in his career once, in 2023, when he pitched 159 innings that season. Schmidt has shown promising stuff in his career. His profile is eerily similar to Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren, relying on spin/movement to generate swing-and-miss, plus weak contact rather than high velocity.
The Yankees bullpen and pitching staff could use all the arms they can get as they prepare for an October push they hope will make them the last team standing since 2009. It’s all hands on deck, as Clarke Schmidt will soon become one of the many pitchers in baseball history and the second Yankees pitcher this season to make his return from the famous Tommy John surgery.
Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt Expected To Be Activated Wednesday