Yankees reveal predictable, troubling injury in wake of questionable pitching plan

If you're an optimist, when the New York Yankees revealed Ian Hamilton would be the first starting pitcher taking the mound out of the All-Star break, you probably thought the team was preserving Max Fried to have his blister heal and get him to face division opponents in the coming weeks.

If you're a pessimist, you probably suspected something was up. And the pessimist wins this round, as manager Aaron Boone reveal Cam Schlittler was supposed to be Friday's starting pitcher, but the right-hander is "dealing with discomfort near his right biceps." It all felt fishy, and it certainly was. Schlittler made his MLB debut right before the break and had fans excited for what's to come with an impressive performance.

Schlittler went for an MRI and Boone said it came back clean. It was also said the hope is for Schlittler to make a start against the Blue Jays next week at Yankee Stadium as the team plays it safe in the short term.

But it's well known that triceps injuries can be tricky, so if Schlittler is dealing with a strain of sorts, this could turn out to be a troubling longer-term issue. It's certainly not a good sign that it's popping up now after his most taxing outing of the season.

Yankees Injury Update: Cam Schlittler dealing with triceps issue

Now it almost feels like they'll absolutely need to expand all potential trade talks to include another big-name starter. Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt are already down. Nobody knows what to really expect from Luis Gil, who has yet to make a start this year. Marcus Stroman and Will Warren have been rollercoasters. So Max Fried and Carlos Rodón can't be tasked with shouldering all of the burden come playoff time.

Schlittler, at the very least, appeared as if he could be an electrifying bullpen option down the stretch (assuming he was reaching a career high in innings). At best, he was viewed as a gas hurling No. 3 who could directly replace the void left by Schmidt.

While the Yankees are downplaying the issue, whatever they say is hard to take at face value because of how so many other injury situations have gone by the wayside. Fans should remain as optimistic as they possibly can about Schlittler given his importance at this juncture, but it might be time to get a bit exaggerated with any trade deadline predictions.