New York Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt exited his start on Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays after experiencing forearm tightness, the club announced. Yankees manager Aaron Boone opted for reliever Clayton Beeter to replace Schmidt on the mound.
Schmidt was removed from the contest after throwing three innings, over the course of which he surrendered three runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out just one of the 15 batters he faced. It’s perhaps worth noting that all of Schmidt’s pitches had reduced velocity compared to their seasonal averages, including his four-seam fastball (down by 1.3 mph compared to his norm), per Statcast.
Schmidt, 29, entered Thursday having compiled a 3.09 ERA (130 ERA+) and a 2.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first 13 starts. His contributions had been worth an estimated 1.6 Wins Above Replacement, according to the estimates housed at Baseball Reference. Schmidt missed the start of the season on account of rotator cuff tendonitis that sidelined him until mid-April. Injuries have, unfortunately, been a theme throughout his career — to wit, he also missed time last season because of a lat issue.
It’s too soon to know if Schmidt will require any time off for this particular malady. If he does land on the injured list, he’ll join a collection of other notable Yankees starters, including ace Gerrit Cole (out for the season following Tommy John surgery), Luis Gil, and Ryan Yarbrough. The Yankees only just had veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman return from his own stint on the IL.
The Yankees entered Thursday with a 48-38 record that had them tied with the Blue Jays atop the American League East, albeit while going 13-16 since the start of June. The winner of Thursday’s game will enter Friday with sole possession of first place.
