Yankees Injury Update: DJ LeMahieu, Tyler Matzek, Clarke Schmidt

The 2025 regular season begins Thursday, and the New York Yankees are ready to take on the Milwaukee Brewers. But they'll be in the Bronx without plenty of names due to spring injuries that altered the complexion of the roster.

For starters, DJ LeMahieu has been out of action ever since suffering a calf injury in his second at-bat of spring training on March 1. He's on the mend, however, and could go on a rehab assignment in the not-too-distant future.

LeMahieu has resumed baseball activities and has begun hitting. He made his way back to New York with the team, but said next Monday "is kind of like the first week of spring training kind of thing" ... which means he could be back in Tampa by the end of the weekend. Not sure why he traveled with the rest of the Opening Day roster, but that's Yankees Stuff for ya.

Still, however, LeMahieu more than likely won't be back for another month, as he'll need a proper buildup after missing the entire spring in addition to 95 games last year.

Yankees Injury Update: Tyler Matzek progression, Clarke Schmidt return

In the end, however, LeMahieu's return hardly factors into the team's plans. They've gotten by without him being a major contributor since 2022. The pitching side of things is where the more important updates are.

Reliever Tyler Matzek, the former Braves postseason hero who was signed to a minor league contract this offseason, is working through an oblique injury and could reportedly return by mid-April. He's been limited ever since Feb. 25. He figures to be a key left-handed addition to the bullpen, with Tim Hill factoring in as the only high-leverage option in that department.

In the rotation, Clarke Schmidt, who was initially projected to return April 3, is still on the mend after suffering back and shoulder injuries this spring. He logged just 1 2/3 innings of official action, so the Yankees are focused on increasing his workload so he can start games. For now, Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco will take over in the back end of the rotation.

Schmidt is starting the year on the injured list. He was scheduled to throw in a minor league game Tuesday, but there have been no updates, which is hardly a good sign because every time we've gotten bad news on the right-hander it's come after complete silence when we were expecting news.

If we were to guess, don't expect to see Schmidt for another month. Let's hope Warren and Carrasco can last that long.