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Yankees: Aaron Boone not mentioning Clarke Schmidt as possible rotation replacement is maddening

ByThomas Carannante|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 06: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Clarke Schmidt #86 of the New York Yankees pitches during a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on July 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 06: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Clarke Schmidt #86 of the New York Yankees pitches during a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on July 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Yankees once again have an open rotation spot but don’t want to give it to Clarke Schmidt.

Injuries are decimating the New York Yankees once again, as Gleyber Torres, Zack Britton, James Paxton and Luis Avilan have all hit the IL after going down this week. They’ll join Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu on the shelf in what seems to be a repeat of 2019.

But perhaps the most puzzling aspect of all this is the Yankees’ refusal to call up top prospect Clarke Schmidt and use him in any capacity. With Paxton’s forearm issue, there’s a clear need in the rotation, and when you factor in Britton and Avilan going down and David Hale being traded to the Phillies, there’s also a serious void in the bullpen.

Yet manager Aaron Boone, while speaking to reporters on Friday, failed to even mention Schmidt as a possible addition to the pitching staff.

Well, Michael King and Joanthan Loaisiga are already on the roster. Adding Nick Nelson would be cool, but that would hardly solve everything. Schmidt’s call-up is almost essential if the Yankees want to stay afloat. While they’ve been granted a bit of a reprieve with the series against the Mets being postponed this weekend, New York just got embarrassed by the Rays and can’t avoid to fall further back in the AL East.

Don’t forget, they finish up their 2020 matchups with the Rays in just 10 days. Before that, they have to get past the Braves and Mets, which won’t exactly be a walk in the park given they’re trotting a B-lineup out there. The Yankees need all of the top-notch reinforcements they can get and the fact Schmidt is being passed over yet again should make fans unhappy.

Did the right-hander not prove enough in Spring Training and Summer Camp? He was a revelation. Is this a service-time issue? Who knows, but the Yanks did just call up pitcher Miguel Yajure, who, like Schmidt, has yet to make it past Double-A.

At least we can relax for a moment because there won’t be any games until Monday (most likely Tuesday, though), but it’s safe to say Yankees Twitter is going to explode if Schmidt isn’t involved in the team’s next roster move.

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