
The 2020 regular season has been one of the strangest for the New York Yankees and all of baseball. The Yankees have once again been bitten by the injury bug, and they are being forced to dive into the reserve options to fill starting spots. The infield has been slaughtered by injury, with DJ LeMahieu just returning this weekend after two weeks on the injured list. They are still without Gleyber Torres, and Gio Urshela is dealing with a bone spur and is considered day-to-day.
However, their pitching units are equally as strung out. James Paxton has a flexor strain and will be out for a few weeks, and relief arm Zack Britton is also on the injured list with a hamstring injury. That is not even factoring Tommy Kahnle undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entire campaign.
The New York Yankees are down to their young prospects:
With the subway series against the Mets being postponed to this weekend, the New York Yankees are forced to play multiple doubleheaders. They already played the first doubleheader of two on Friday, but considering the condensed schedule, they are reaching into their prospect pool to add a starter to the active roster.
“We have a decision lined up that we are ready to execute,’’ Cashman said when asked about Garcia and Schmidt, who have been working out at the alternate site at the Triple-A complex in Moosic, Pa. “One of those [is] in play for [Sunday] and hopefully two. It just depends on how it plays out [Saturday].’’
Both Deivi GarcÃa and Clarke Schmidt have been working out at the alternate site, preparing for their opportunity. In an intra-squad game several weeks ago, Garcia was shelled by the Philadelphia Phillies. He threw two errant balls at first base trying to pick off runners and couldn’t even last more than two innings. Nonetheless, he will receive the start on Sunday in game two of the doubleheader. Michael King will start in game one.
Garcia, who stands at 5-foot-9 and 163 pounds, struck out 165 batters last year and walked 54. Earning the start over 2017 first-round pick Clarke Schmidt promotes how eager the Yankees are to get him some live action. After rising through the ranks in three months last year in the farm system, Garcia did struggle at the highest level of A-ball. Elevating him to the MLB so quickly will provide him great experience with might put the Yankees in a tumultuous position. There’s no doubt he has the stuff to compete at the highest level, and we will get our first real look against the Mets.