3 takeaways from Yankees intrasquad game, including Clarke Schmidt’s lights out performance

The Yankees played an intrasquad game in an empty Yankee Stadium on Monday night. It was a weird sight.

No center fielder or left fielder. Sometimes, no one on the field in general. Going right into the dugout after a walk. Summer Camp baseball was a wild sight to see.

We got our first glimpse of Summer Camp baseball as the Yankees played the Yankees (in this case, the “Bombers”) in an instasquad matchup in the Bronx.

Here are three takeaways from the first baseball game the Yankees have played since March.

Clarke Schmidt, and all the pitchers, looked great

Schmidt faced seven batters and struck out four of them, allowing just a bloop single to Gleyber Torres. Schmidt has pitched just 19 innings in Double-A, but the Yankees’ second-best prospect earned some praise for manager Aaron Boone before the intrasquad game.

“His pitch repertoire is excellent,” said Boone, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “His athleticism on the mound allows him to have a real clean delivery. There’s an absolute presence to him like he believes he belongs here.”

Zack Britton and Chad Green each retired all four batters they faced. J.A. Happ allowed no hits in his two innings of work, allowing just one walk to Clint Frazier. Adam Ottavino struck out the first two batters he faced, unofficially retiring three of the four batters he faced. Even CC Sabathia was looking good in the stands.

Surely, the pitchers are way ahead of the game. Throughout the pandemic, it has been a lot easier for pitchers to get real repetitions in. For hitters, it’s definitely been much more difficult. But it is a good sign that the arms seem very close to midseason form.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Hicks are back

Less than a week after Brian Cashman gave updates on the three of them, they each got three at-bats. Judge also got some reps in right field, and while Hicks was listed as the center fielder prior to the game, it’s unclear if he took reps in the outfield.

Cashman said last week that he was optimistic that all three would be ready for Opening Day – Hicks and Judge at full capacity, and Stanton as the designated hitter.

Coronavirus is real in baseball

After recording an out, lefty reliever Zack Britton pulled a Paul O’Neill and booted a ball touched by other infielders into the Yankee dugout, that way he wouldn’t touch the ball also. Expect more weird sights like this throughout the season.