Schmidt both relieved & disappointed over injury

TAMPA — Clarke Schmidt is relieved, but disappointed. One of the Yankees top pitching prospects said he was very thankful that the pain and stiffness in his elbow is a muscle injury and not related to the Tommy John surgery he had earlier in his career. Having come into spring training believing he was competing for a job, however, Schmidt is frustrated he won’t be able to make that case.

“I kind of started about throwing my bullpens and stuff earlier this year, because obviously I was coming in competing for a job. So I wanted to come in ready... wanting to come in as if it was a mid season. I think maybe going into my first bullpen I was kind of letting it go a little bit too much,” Schmidt said. “It’s just a maturing process and kind of learning what works and what doesn’t work.”

“I threw my first bullpen and after the pen I was worried that it was going to be maybe something more significant with just the lack of range of motion and stuff that I had,” Schmidt said. “But thankfully, I was thinking of the Lord every single moment, that when I got the MRI everything was so clean, structurally. It was best case scenario type stuff.”

Schmidt was shut down after straining the group of muscles in the outer elbow responsible for extending the arm and pronating the hand. He will not throw for three to four weeks, which means he will not have a chance to show the Yankees his growth over the winter.

That attempt to come in and prove himself may have contributed to the injury, as Schmidt worked with weighted balls this winter in an attempt to “clean up” his mechanics. He had thrown about a dozen bullpens before camp opened and was marveling about his increased velocity. He credited his work with weighted balls with getting him ready.

While he is not entirely sure of what caused the injury, he is sure it taught him a good lesson about listening to his body and easing into a season.

“When you kind of experience stuff like this, it’s a maturing process, because you get to learn and pick and choose things that work for you and don’t work for you. And thankfully, it could have been a lot worse,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt had Tommy John surgery out of the University of South Carolina, which is part of the reason he was not realistically expected to be in the Yankees major league rotation this season. Before last year’s abbreviated pandemic season, Schmidt had made just three starts in Double-A. He would likely have been in Triple-A last season, if there had been one, but was at the Alternate Training Site to keep his development going. He got a taste of the big leagues in three appearances, including one start. He pitched to a 7.11 ERA over 6.1 innings pitched last season.

TOSSING OUT 2020

After a breakout season in 2019, there is nothing Mike Tauchman can take from 2020. The outfielder hit .242/.342/.305 in 111 plate appearances over 43 games. He was dealing with an undisclosed shoulder issue, which he said is an on-going maintenance issue for him.

But basically the 60-game pandemic shortened season was a lost year.

“It was a difficult season to evaluate in that there wasn’t a ton of opportunity . ... I felt like I had a bad few weeks and the next thing you know, the season’s over,” Tauchman said. “That’s not saying that you don’t have to perform because regardless of what’s going on the game is about performance, and I didn’t perform to the level that I expected myself.”

“So, when I got home and tried to identify the things that I could do to improve myself, and I got to work pretty quickly on some of those things,” Tauchman said. “And then I just tried to also keep it in perspective they like … it was a strange year.”

Tauchman comes into this spring training in a battle for a roster spot. An excellent defender with speed, he is battling with slugger Jay Bruce and utility infielder and outfielder Derek Dietrich for a bench role.

In 2019, after being acquired by the Yankees from the Rockies, Tauchman hit .277/.361/.504.

SEVERINO ON TRACK

Luis Severino threw at 120 feet four times this past week, manager Aaron Boone said. The right-hander, who is coming back from February 2019 Tommy John surgery, will throw at that distance again on flat ground this week. If everything goes well, the Yankees manager said Severino could begin working off a mound the following week.

Severino, who has pitched just 12 innings since the beginning of 2019, is not expected back until mid season.

SUNDAY’S PITCHING LINEUP

Michael King will make the first start of the Grapefruit League campaign for the Yankees Sunday when they host the Blue Jays (1:05 p.m. ET, YES). He will be followed by Asher Wojciechowski, Lucas Luetge, Kyle Barraclough, Nick Goody, Adam Warren, Albert Abreu and Trevor Lane.