New York Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt is set to undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming days. The surgery will repair his torn UCL in his pitching elbow.
The New York Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, addressed the reporters before Thursday’s game against the Seattle Mariners. Due to surgery, Schmidt is set to miss the remainder of the 2025 season and most of the 2026 season. He also underwent Tommy John surgery before he was drafted by the Yankees in 2017.
In this game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he experienced forearm tightness and exited the game. After throwing for three innings, he was removed from the game. In that match, he surrendered three runs on four hits and two walks. He also went to bat and faced 15 balls but could only hit one. Due to the issue in his forearm, all the pitches had reduced velocity compared to his seasonal averages.
After taking the mound for his final start, Schmidt, 29, had totaled a 3.09 ERA (130 ERA+) and a 2.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the 13 starts prior. At Baseball Reference’s estimations, Schmidt’s contributions had been worth an estimated 1.6 Wins Above Replacement. Schmidt began the season on the Injured List with rotator cuff tendonitis early in the season until mid-April. Injuries have been a part of Schmidt’s career, unfortunately, as he missed time with a lat issue last season as well.
He now joins a list of notable Yankees who are out of the team due to various injuries. The injured list includes Gerrit Cole (who is out for the season due to Tommy John surgery), Luis Gil, and Ryan Yarbrough. Their veteran right-hander, Marcus Stroman, just returned to the team from the injured list.
