The Yankees came out of Wednesday afternoon’s 5-4 extra-innings loss to the Twins with the same uneasy feeling they’ve had far too often lately on offense. But on the pitching side, Clarke Schmidt’s return gave them something real to hold onto.
Schmidt made his 2026 debut after coming off the injured list, and even in a brief outing, he flashed the kind of arm the Yankees have been waiting to get back into the mix. He worked 2/3 of an inning, allowed two hits, and struck out two, with the strikeouts doing most of the heavy lifting when he needed a way out of trouble.
The Yankees are clearly easing him back in, and that matters. Schmidt isn’t built up yet, but the expectation is that he can eventually give them more than one inning at a time out of the bullpen.
In three of his five rehab starts, he worked more than an inning, and in two of those, he went two innings. That kind of ramp-up fits what the Yankees need right now, especially with Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick carrying a heavy load.
Ryan Weathers is also slated to join the bullpen soon.
What Schmidt brings is the missing ingredient this staff keeps needing in the middle innings: strikeouts. Bednar, Blackburn, and Headrick can miss bats, but that becomes a lot harder to count on when a starter exits early.
Schmidt’s debut fit that profile. He got two punchouts against Minnesota and worked through two hits because the swing-and-miss stuff was there when it counted.
That wasn’t a one-day blip, either. In a rehab start, Schmidt struck out 11 batters in seven innings.
He hasn’t logged a full season since 2023, but across 2024 and 2025, he posted a 9.11 K/9. That kind of strikeout rate is exactly the sort of thing that can matter in October.
There was also one notable wrinkle in his pitch mix. Schmidt leaned on his sweeper heavily in both 2023 and 2024, when it was his second-most-used pitch one year and third-most-used the other.
Against the Twins, he didn’t throw it at all. That could simply be part of the build-up, though it would be a surprise if he moved away from it for long.
Batters hit .210 off the pitch in 2024 and struck out 33.8% of the time against it. In 2025, they hit .125 with a 35.8% strikeout rate against it.
That’s a weapon worth revisiting.
The bigger picture is simple: you can never have too much pitching, and the Yankees know it. Even after a deadline that didn’t bring in any relievers, they’ve managed to strengthen their depth, first with John Schreiber and now with Schmidt’s return.
There’s also a practical decision looming beyond this season. Schmidt has one year left after 2026, and if the Yankees don’t see him in their long-term plans, he could become a trade chip. The rotation is expected to be fuller next year, and with Ryan Weathers and Will Warren available as depth options, the Yankees could decide to use Schmidt as a way to address another need.
For now, though, this season may serve as a showcase. If Schmidt can finish strong, he gives the Yankees both a useful arm for the stretch run and a potential winter decision to make.
Chances are, he won’t be asked to start next year anyway, and if he does, he won’t be fully built up since he’ll still need to ramp back up. He last threw more than 150 innings in 2023.
That’s part of why this stretch matters so much.
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