4 Yankees players the fans have already lost patience with

Editor's note: This article was written before the Yankees decided to designate Aaron Hicks for assignment.

The 2023 New York Yankees have dug themselves out of a remarkably frustrating early portion of the season, but not all the way just yet.

This roster still displays significant inconsistency and, yes, while they're competing in the dangerous AL East without three projected starting pitchers and Giancarlo Stanton, it would've been nice to see them assemble quality depth instead of stumbling into Jake Bauers.

Oh, and they still broke camp this spring without a left fielder. Never forget that.

While the vibes are improving (standing your ground against the Jays and Rays while refuting nonsensical Aaron Judge allegations will do that), there are still a few names on this roster who come with automatic ire attached.

As the Yankees look to welcome back injured players (Sevy Sunday?) and pare down the roster, these four players have the most to lose. Apologies to Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jhony Brito, who were miscast at first, but are now playing their roles much better, and have earned a promotion off the Frustration List.

4 Yankees players the fans have already lost patience with in 2023

Clarke Schmidt

Clarke Schmidt's recent run of starts has improved, but he's produced an awful lot of frustration already for a former top prospect trying to lock down a rotation spot.

The numbers are ghastly enough, and he's taxed the bullpen in nearly every outing, recently recording his first "win" of the season against the Oakland A's.

What's most frustrating, though, is we were assured that this season would be different for Schmidt, and that the cutter he developed in the offseason would be the key to his ability to handle left-handers and graduate from the bullpen.

Unfortunately, that cutter somehow decreased his ability to handle lefties this season. Through nine starts, they're hitting a ridiculous .369/.448/.667 against Schmidt with a 1.104 OPS. That would lead the league, by a significant margin; NL MVP threat Ronald Acuña Jr. is your current MLB leader with a 1.050 mark.

Last season, when lefties were a "problem" that needed to be addressed? They hit just .268/.358/.439 with a .797 OPS against Schmidt. Rumor has it that adjusting his grip to the cutter has neutered the effectiveness of all his other pitches and caused his rhythm to get out of whack. Whatever the cause, Schmidt had a golden opportunity to prove himself as a starter this spring, and instead proved that his fate may lie in the bullpen (at best) moving forward.

He was positively ... fine in Cincinnati on Friday (and still managed to create a jam and make the game closer than it had to be right before he left). That didn't change his ultimate fate, in our eyes.

Albert Abreu

If this isn't the end of the road for Albert Abreu, it has to be coming around the bend (even after his outing against the Blue Jays on Thursday night).

The "beneficiary" of Ian Hamilton's injury (congrats, man!), Abreu should survive a little longer as the bullpen gets one man thinner. That doesn't mean he's any form of trustworthy.

After pitching surprisingly well to begin the 2023 season (common Cashman success, 0.00 ERA through eight innings), the wheels fell off, as everyone knew they would. He leaked a bit in two innings against the Blue Jays before officially bursting at the seams in allowing six earned runs in one inning against the Texas Rangers.

Now, more often than not, he's back to being the textbook definition of a mop-up artist, despite sporting a 99 MPH fastball that should be good for far more than it is. There's no reason Abreu should have the WHIP of a soft-tosser like Ryan Weber who pitches to contact, but he certainly does (1.55, which is certifiably insane, and was only lowered from 1.65 due to two surprisingly good outings in Toronto and Cincinnati).

Sometimes, when teams like the Kansas City Royals let talent walk out the door with a fastball this electric, "smarter" teams like the Yankees celebrate early. "We did it!" they yell. "We outsmarted them! We got an arm we're familiar with back in the system for free! They had no idea what they were doing with him!" And, yes, occasionally, bottom-feeder teams don't have the same level of developmental patience or know-how as the league's best talent spotters.

Sometimes, though, it just means that teams like the Kansas City Royals realized early on that something's missing from Abreu's arsenal, and that no amount of tinkering would make him part of their future. This certainly seems like one of those instances.

Domingo Germán

Two things are true: Domingo Germán briefly earned back the fans' trust by being one of the Yankees' more effective starters in April and May, and Germán lost that trust entirely by being foolish enough to dabble in sticky stuff for the second time in a month and get himself suspended this week.

The Yankees, already in the midst of a marathon without off days, can't replace Germán on the roster, and will have to play a man down because he can't figure out the rosin situation, vis a vis where it goes, when you put it on, and how much of it you can use. If that's not a patience-tester, I'm not sure what is.

Germán helped the Yankees survive the losses of Severino, Carlos Rodón and Frankie Montas (remember him?) early, but this is far from the first time his immaturity (and that's being generous) has cost the team.

He was suspended and removed from the roster just before the 2019 postseason after a domestic violence incident at a team charity event; famously, the Yankees were a pitcher (or two) short during that run, and started Chad Green in a do-or-die Game 6 on the road in Houston. Germán seems to have rehabilitated his personal life, and that's fine, but his recent on-field decisions and outright foolishness have tested the fan base's patience yet again.

Cue hundreds of commenters who somehow refuse to agree with this assertion, considering that's what happens every time we write about Germán, but if this distinctly average right-hander isn't testing your patience now, I'm not sure what to tell you.