The New York Yankees started an important series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. At the moment of play ball, they were tied with the Toronto Blue Jays in the second place of the American League East division, so they need to string a few victories to claim separation and to mount a chase of the leaders, the Tampa Bay Rays.
To win some games, the Yankees need some quality pitching. They haven’t gotten many quality innings lately, especially from the bullpen. The team could use an injection of youth, freshness, and new blood.
Clarke Schmidt, the New York Yankees’ top pitching prospect, was added to the team’s taxi squad and traveled to Baltimore, where the club is playing its series against the Orioles. Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reported that they could consider bringing him up to make his big league debut.
A rough stretch for the Yankees
After all, the Yankees will play 20 games in the next 17 days and they are going to need all the help they can get. But despite all the hoopla that was created over the report, manager Aaron Boone put some water on the fire.
Boone said that the Yankees aren’t considering calling up Smith at this moment, per Mark Feinsand, although things could change any minute if the team suffers another injury or if one or several key arms are overused in Baltimore.
Schmidt, 24, is a very interesting prospect and could inject some life to the rotation, as Deivi Garcia did in his debut. He had a 3.47 ERA and 102/28 K/BB ratio over 90 2/3 frames across three levels in the minors in 2019. However, he has precious few innings above Double-A.
Will the Yankees call him up this weekend? As of now, there are no plans. But in this crazy short season, anything can happen. Stay tuned, because plans can change at any moment.