Clarke Schmidt's return can't arrive soon enough for Yankees after Marcus Stroman injury

No Cole, no Gil, no Schmidt. After all the fanfare surrounding torpedo bats, this is the New York Yankees’ storyline of the season so far. Injuries have severely hampered what was supposed to be a strong contender. If the Yankees had some decent pitching depth, this might not be as big of a problem, but after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in blowout fashion, their record now stands at 7-6.

As a whole, the Yankee pitching staff owns a 4.94 ERA. Their one bright spot in the rotation has been Max Fried, who owns a stellar 1.56 ERA. Beyond Fried, the rest of the starters own ugly numbers. Carlos Rodon owns an ERA of 5.19, Will Warren owns a 6.00, and Carlos Carrasco owns a 7.71.

That brings us to Marcus Stroman who saw his ERA balloon to 11.57 in his latest start against the San Francisco Giants. What happened to Stroman?

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Marcus Stroman potentially injured after nightmare of an outing vs. Giants

Stroman took the mound in a cold New York rain. About as soon as he stepped on the mound, chaos ensued. Stroman consistently missed location, resulting in walks and hits. Before he could record a single out, Stroman had allowed five earned runs. After 46 pitches, Stroman exited with two outs and two on having surrendered five runs in a single inning. Ryan Yarbrough would be called in to record the last out of the first inning nightmare. The Yankees would go on to lose 9-1 in the rain-shortened game.

The initial assumption behind Stroman’s immense struggles was the rain, ruining Stroman’s grip. But now, we are hearing that Stroman was injured. Manager Aaron Boone said after the game that Stroman went to the hospital to undergo x-rays for his left knee. Boone says that Stroman's knee was "bugging him."

This early on, we don’t know if he will need a stint on the IL. At this point, the Yankees’ injury woes are seemingly unparalleled. But there is some good news; Clarke Schmidt shined in what should be his last rehab start before his return. Schmidt started the year on the IL with right rotator cuff tendinitis. In his second (presumably last) rehab start, Schmidt threw four scoreless innings recording four hits, four strikeouts, and no walks.

This is an encouraging sign from Schmidt. With Stroman potentially down for a bit and the Yankees plentiful pitching problems, Schmidt’s return couldn’t come soon enough. His presence behind Fried should provide at least some stability for the Yankee rotation.