TAMPA — Clarke Schmidt completing a bullpen session on Monday morning allowed the Yankees to exhale slightly, though they may not be out of the woods just yet.
It has been the days after Schmidt throws that have given him trouble, so the Yankees right-hander still has to get through those to prove his shoulder fatigue is just a minor speed bump instead of another dagger to the rotation.
But the uber-confident Schmidt is hopeful it is simply a minor speed bump.
“I wouldn’t be throwing if there was a concern of something major,” Schmidt said after tossing about 24 pitches in his bullpen session at Steinbrenner Field instead of starting against the Blue Jays, which was the original plan.
“Obviously was bouncing back a little slower this week and just being a little more cautious with the time of year. And losing a couple guys in the rotation, you don’t want to make a small thing a big thing. So just being smart and felt really good today.”
Clarke Schmidt throws at Yankees camp on Feb. 20, 2025.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Schmidt said he has not felt any “sharpness” in his shoulder, just that he is slow recovering from his last outing. But he has a theory for why it is happening.
“Honestly, I attest a lot of this to after the longer end of the season, the later in the season we played and went to the World Series, I kind of shut down longer from the throwing,” said Schmidt, who notably threw on Monday without any medical staffer carefully monitoring him. “I shut down throwing longer than I should have. But it’s kind of like, you don’t really know until you go through it. It’s kind of trial by erro.
“For me, I felt like I shut down a little bit too long and I’ve been playing catch up, kind of behind the eight ball a little bit.”
If everything goes smoothly over the next couple of days in Schmidt’s recovery, he could get back into game action on Wednesday or Thursday.
Doing so would keep the door open for him to possibly be ready to start the season on time — albeit with little margin for error.
Clarke Schmidt throws a bullpen session at Yankees camp on Feb. 14, 2025.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Yankees were already planning on Schmidt starting the sixth game of the season to give him one extra live batting practice session to continue his buildup after he was slowed earlier in camp by a cranky back.
Either way, the Yankees will not rush Schmidt and risk a bigger problem, especially after already losing Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) for the season and Luis Gil (lat strain) at least until June.
If they want to play it safe, they could put Schmidt on the injured list to start the season, carry both Carlos Carrasco (who has a March 22 opt-out and may well make the team either way) and Will Warren for the first turn through the rotation and then bring Schmidt back as early as the third turn though.
“I think we felt good about it, but anytime you’re [scratched], there’s still that trepidation, especially considering what we’ve been through so far with some guys this spring,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully we’re OK.”
Schmidt missed over three months in the middle of last season with a lat strain, but he is trying to use that experience to help him now.
He said Monday that he threw through the lat issue “for a few weeks” last year and made what could have been a smaller thing a bigger issue.
“You learn from that mistake that you had last year, but it goes hand in hand: I wouldn’t be throwing right now if we felt or I felt like I was putting myself at a high risk,” Schmidt said. “It’s just being smart and being cautious. But thankfully I haven’t had to shut down and put the ball down and revamp my workload. We feel like we’re in a good spot as far as the workload goes.”
