Yankees' Clarke Schmidt stunt is another move that will derail 2024 season

Is Clarke Schmidt "the answer" for the New York Yankees' current problems? No. In fact, there's really not much that can save this team right now. Not even two MVP candidates on the offensive side of the ball and the reigning AL Cy Young winner. It's that bad.

But the Yankees have been their own worst enemy, swearing by their strategies that typically possess no rhyme or reason. And the most recent that has flown under the radar is what they've pulled with Schmidt since he suffered a lat strain.

Schmidt is making his return to the active roster this Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. That sounds great, doesn't it? Honestly, we're excited.

But what about all of the time that has lapsed in between? Schmidt went down with his injury after his May 26 start against the Padres. He has been out for OVER THREE MONTHS. Initially, it was reported he'd be shut down from throwing for 4-6 weeks. On June 28, it was reported Schmidt began his throwing program, which meant he was right at that four-week shutdown. He has remained out for more than two months after that.

Despite Schmidt reporting nothing but positive results from his recovery and his progress with throwing, his timetable has been delayed as long as the Yankees could possibly delay it. And they knew this all along and still didn't acquire another starting pitcher at the trade deadline.

And of course, the Yankees wouldn't provide any candid updates between then and now. No setbacks were reported. They just very clearly had their own plan for reasons unknown. They kept their second-best starter off the roster for over a month longer than they needed to, and over the course of those three months, the Yankees have experienced another summer collapse that now has them kicked out of the driver's seat in the AL East.

By no means is anybody advocating for the Yankees to "rush" Schmidt back, but again, his injury was known on May 27. He resumed throwing on June 28. Nothing was reported until July 19, when he was slated to throw 20 pitches off of a mound the next day (which means he was in some sort of throwing program for over three weeks).

He threw bullpen sessions for the next two weeks before facing live hitters on Aug. 6. He faced live hitters for another two weeks before going out on a rehab assignment on Aug. 23. His final rehab outing came on Sept. 2, and he'll be back on Sept. 7.

Clarke Schmidt's lat strain was treated like Gerrit Cole's worrisome elbow inflammation, and we still have no answers as to why. All for what? A grand September timing plan for the starting rotation that's far too late? As the Yankees need to stave off another collapse to avoid the Wild Card round?

Schmidt has made 11 starts this year. He will probably make 3-4 before the regular season ends. By that point, the Yankees better have the division secured, or this will be viewed as another form of malpractice on the other end of the injury spectrum. The Yankees are either beyond careless with how they handle their players, or think they're afforded the opportunity to buy as much time as possible while the sky is falling.

Did we mention that Schmidt's starts down the stretch will probably be abbreviated too? And put more pressure on the bullpen? Until the organization is truthful about their processes, the fans and media will be harsh in their assessments as it becomes more clear that nobody really has any idea what they're doing.