Rehabbing Yankees starter ‘definitely itching’ to return to help beleaguered bullpen

The beleaguered Yankees ' bullpen has been stretched thin this season as the team has struggled to score runs without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

The pen took another hit Tuesday night when Fernandez Cruz was ineffective in his appearance in a 9-7 loss to the Houston Astros , and appears headed to the injured list today, per NJ.com's Bob Klapisch.

Starter Clarke Schmidt , who is rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery in July 2025, says he's "definitely itching" to come back during the regular season and pitch out of the pen.

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"It's definitely gonna be nerve-wracking, but it's gonna be exciting," Schmidt told Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network following a live bullpen session Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. "It's been a while since I've competed and been on a game mound, so I'm definitely itching."

Schmidt pitched to bench coach Brad Ausmus and other batters during his bullpen session.

"I thought [my stuff] was good," he said. "...I was really happy with the shapes and the consistency of it."

Schmidt said a rehab assignment in the minors is expected next before he re-joins the team as a reliever.

"I think it's more of an inning-allotment type deal and pitch-count type deal," he said. "...And then also get used to the usages and get the pitch count up as much as we can."

He added: "There's definitely a plan in place."

Asked if he expects to come out of the bullpen during the season, Schmidt said, "Yes, 100%, I think that's been my goal from Day One. I want to be able to compete this year. I want to get innings under my belt before a full season next year.

"And I want to back get out there in the regular season, especially before playoffs and things really start picking up. Get the ball rolling a little bit and get back out there as quick as I can, and obviously competing at the Major League level was my No. 1 goal this year....

The Yankees' bullpen has been one of the team's biggest weapons this season, and it has pitched to a 3.05 ERA. But in the dog days of August, the pen is wearing down.

The pen blew three different leads on Tuesday night.

Depending on his conditioning, Schmidt could be a welcome addition come September.

"I think he could really help us. When he's on his game he's got a lot of weapons," Boone said.

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