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Yankees promoting Clarke Schmidt is, of course, paired with more bad news

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 02: Scott Effross #59 of the New York Yankees in action against the ssat Yankee Stadium on August 02, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Mariners defeated the Yankees 8-6. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 02: Scott Effross #59 of the New York Yankees in action against the ssat Yankee Stadium on August 02, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Mariners defeated the Yankees 8-6. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Earlier on Monday when buzz started circulating about pitcher Clarke Schmidt having a locker at Yankee Stadium, fans were excited the team would be getting back a key player who helped New York countless times he’s taken the mound this year.

Well, they are! Schmidt has officially been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a place he should’ve never been optioned to in the first place.

There’s bad news, though. Schmidt is getting the call because injuries continue to ravage the Yankees‘ roster. Reliever Scott Effross going to the injured list was the decision that paved the way for Schmidt’s return.

One of the Yankees’ main trade deadline additions, Effross has been crucial to the bullpen after being elevated to hold down high-leverage situations as so many other relievers have either been incapable of doing so or unable to perform due to injury.

Effross is said to be dealing with a shoulder strain that will prohibit him from throwing a baseball from 7-10 days. That means, at best, he’ll be back in ~3 weeks? Great.

Yankees recall Clarke Schmidt and place Scott Effross on injured list

Effross was said to be dealing with shoulder soreness on Saturday but the severity was unclear. At first, it seemed like a day-to-day situation, which led to fellow reliever Lou Trivino having to get seven outs on Sunday to secure the much-needed win over the Blue Jays.

Sadly, Schmidt getting elevated is paired with the Effross news getting worse. Instead of the right-hander providing reinforcement, Schmidt will have to offer help as a replacement, which doesn’t exactly make the bullpen stronger. It only just keeps it somewhat together.

Schmidt was rolling at the MLB level before being optioned to be “built up as a starter,” or so the Yankees told us. Is that the end goal if he’s now being recalled to likely fill bullpen innings yet again? In his eight starts with the RailRiders, he’s pitched a combined 33 innings. That’s barely four innings per start. How is that “being built up”? He already had 10 multi-inning outings with the Yankees this season, so explain the point of not keeping him at the MLB level and using him to, perhaps, piggy back starters who get knocked out of the game early. It’s happened a fair amount lately!

All optioning him tells us is the Yankees are conducting unnecessary housekeeping instead of maximizing an asset right in front of their face. Schmidt is back, but it comes at a cost and it shows fans that the Yankees were just one injury away from keeping him in the role he was already excelling in anyway. Time and efforts wasted.

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