Yankees News: Gerrit Cole concern, former top prospect lands with Nationals, Clarke Schmidt

The Yankees and Mets will face off in a rubber match to decide the winner of the Subway Series on Sunday after the Bombers suffered an embarrassing 12-2 defeat on Saturday. That one was doomed from the start in what featured another concerning outing from Gerrit Cole.

Though he managed to last seven innings against the Padres last weekend, he killed the team's vibes by surrendering back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the game. Should the offense have scored more runs? Absolutely. But the starting pitcher can't get crushed like that the first moment he sees an opposing lineup.

A similar occurrence kicked off Saturday's game, when Cole was seen on the mound waiting until the clock read 1:38 p.m. ET (the official start time) to throw the first pitch of the game. It's unclear if that was instructed by the umpire or if Cole was being his usual particular self, but whatever it was looked worse after Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff homer.

Cole surrendered two more homers and finished his outing at just 4 1/3 innings. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits, only struck out four batters, and has surrendered six homers in his last nine innings pitched.

For as good as he's been in his first 20 starts since undergoing Tommy John surgery, there is real concern over him receiving a playoff start in the next few weeks. He's giving up far too many homers and far too much hard contact while not generating nearly enough whiffs.

His struggles against the Mets are well documented. No team has had more success against him (8.49 ERA in 10 starts). The other team he cannot handle? The Boston Red Sox, who the Yankees are likely to face in the Wild Card round. Cole has a career 5.30 ERA over 20 starts against New York's archrival. There's a real argument for keeping him rested until the ALDS should the Yanks get that far.

Nationals claim former Yankees top prospect Chase Hampton off waivers

Last week, when the Yankees activated Aaron Judge off the injured list, a former top prospect was the roster casualty. Chase Hampton, the organization's sixth-round pick in 2022, was designated for assignment. The right-hander was making his way back from Tommy John surgery as well but had been struggling.

On Saturday, he was claimed by the Washington Nationals off waivers. That's another former Yankees pitcher headed to the nation's capital, after the Luis Garcia Jr. trade saw Jake Bird, Yovanny Cruz, Ben Grable and Jack Cebert end up there in early August.

Hampton got as high as the Yankees' No. 7 prospect but never managed to impress above High-A. Like we've said a million times, always trade prospects if it means getting closer to a championship.

As a result of Hampton's departure, the Yankees saw one of their red-hot prospects enter the top 30 as MLB Pipeline now has Yostin Pena at No. 15.

Clarke Schmidt should be joining Yankees for Twins or D-backs series

On Thursday when the Yankees demoted Jasson Dominguez, many thought Clarke Schmidt would be getting the call. But instead it was Bradley Hanner, who saw action in Saturday's blowout and helped move the line into Sunday.

Aaron Boone told reporters that Schmidt would be getting one more rehab outing before potentially joining the Yankees on their upcoming road trip against the Twins and Diamondbacks. We can assume that's probably a guarantee after the right-hander dominated on Saturday.

Schmidt figures to slot into the bullpen for the stretch run and postseason. It's definitely a risky decision since he's coming off Tommy John surgery, but the relief corps is thin and needs any and all help at this point.

If he can help provide multi-inning relief outings to take some stress off the high-leverage arms, it'll be a potential season-saving move. Then again, he's only pitched in 30 games since the start of 2024 and has seen just 5 2/3 innings of work during his Tommy John rehab. We'll remain optimistic, but we can't say the odds are in his favor at the moment.

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