Pitching reinforcements are on the way.
Clarke Schmidt, coming off the second Tommy John surgery of his career, is making progress toward a return.
On Saturday, before the Yankees-Dodgers game was postponed due to rain, Schmidt threw a simulated game for the first time during his rehabilitation.
“It was great. I felt good. Nice and easy,” the right-hander said. “Felt like I was moving really well. Felt good to have some competition, compete again and get some cleats on the dirt. So I was excited.”
The plan is for Schmidt to throw another simulated game in five days.
He threw 15 pitches in this outing, but not any breaking balls.
He wasn’t going full bore, on the advice of the medical staff, who wanted him to ease into it.
He did top out at 94 mph Saturday.
“I think Gerrit [Cole] ended up, in his first live in spring training, he threw all fastballs,” Schmidt said. “I think they’re kind of like, ‘This [is] a good North Star to have right here so we’ll just follow his method.’ I spun some in the pregame and stuff like that in the bullpen, but just all fastballs.”
What Schmidt’s role will be when he returns remains to be seen, manager Aaron Boone said.
Schmidt is open to doing whatever the Yankees want, whether that is as a reliever or starter.
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He’s just determined to rejoin his teammates.
“That’s the only thing on my mind right now. I want to help this team,” Schmidt said. “Obviously I care about my career and the long term and stuff like that, but for me right now, I know how talented we are. I’ve seen the upside of this team throughout this season. So being a part of that, and being able to help in any way I can, when I lay my head down at night it’s all I’m thinking about: How can I be an impact on this team?”
The 30-year-old Schmidt was in the midst of a strong season a year ago, notching a 3.32 ERA across 14 starts and 78 ²/₃ innings pitched, before suffering the elbow injury.
