Yankees Injury Update: Clarke Schmidt, Chase Hampton, and (somehow) Brad Ausmus

We tried. New York Yankees fans genuinely tried to not get (further) down in the dumps after learning of Giancarlo Stanton's double elbow injury that could keep him out beyond Opening Day. But we can only take so many hits.

After that, there were depressing DJ LeMahieu comments relayed through the media followed by an avalanche of other injury news. There are very few things helping foster optimism as we approach the 2025 season.

On Wednesday, we learned a whole lot, starting with Clarke Schmidt, who is dealing with what manager Aaron Boone calls a "cranky back." Much like "mid-spring beat-up", the Yankees create new injuries every single year, and here's another.

The good news (we guess?) is that Schmidt threw an "aggressive" flat-ground session on Wednesday. But his back "flared up" after a Friday bullpen session and he's yet to face live hitters. Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake "don't think it's much of anything," but how often have we heard that?

Yankees Injury Update: Really bad news for top prospect Chase Hampton

But it gets worse. Top prospect Chase Hampton, who dealt with an unclear injury in 2024 that limited him to just 18 2/3 innings, is now in danger of missing all of 2025. Turns out there might've been a reason the Yankees weren't forward about his injury diagnosis, which ranged from a shoulder ailment to a forearm issue to an elbow issue.

Per Boone, Hampton suffered a flexor strain and is back in New York City undergoing tests. He added that there's "something going on in the UCL," which ... simply cannot be good. Hampton was held out of the Juan Soto trade talks last offseason and the Yankees instead shipped pitching prospect Drew Thorpe to San Diego. Coincidentally, Thorpe needed Tommy John at the end of last year and he will miss all of 2025.

We're hoping Hampton isn't destined for the same fate, but he's had pretty troubling news on the injury front over the last year.

And what would an injury update be without one of the Yankees coaches suffering an ailment? Bench coach Brad Ausmus is in that boat right now, having tweaked a hammy playing in a pickup basketball game over the weekend.

Aaron Boone knows a thing or two about suffering an injury playing in a pickup basketball game. Back in 2004, Boone violated the terms of his contract by playing offseason basketball and suffered a torn ACL, missing that entire year of play.

Ausmus didn't quite suffer the same fate, as he was seen on the field conducting drills on Wednesday, but man, this endless injury bug knows no bounds with the Yankees.