The New York Yankees pitching staff has ridden a crazy roller coaster ride of injuries already in 2025, and the regular season has barely even begun.
Nobody exemplifies that ride more than Marcus Stroman. The 33-year-old-right-hander entered spring training late under somewhat uncertain and uncomfortable terms, with questions about whether he’d still be with the Yankees at the start of the regular season, let alone a member of the rotation.
But with a myriad of injuries to various other starters, the Yankees were grateful to not have followed through on any potential trade involving Stroman. Unfortunately, Stroman has not taken advantage of the opportunity, going 0-1 in three starts with an 11.57 ERA and 2.04 WHIP, and now it could be a while before he next takes the mound.
In his most recent start on Friday, Stroman allowed five runs on four hits in just 0.2 innings in a 9-1 loss to San Francisco. He was sent to the hospital after leaving the game due to pain in his left knee, and on Saturday, the Yankees placed him on the 15-day injured list.
The team announced that an MRI came back negative. Stroman was given a cortisone shot to treat the inflamed knee.
“The MRI was good, but he had some swelling in there somewhere,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. “So try to eliminate that, hopefully get him ramped up pretty quick and, hopefully, something that really helps him move it forward.”
Marcus Stroman Among Several Starters Struggling for New York
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New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman was put on the 15-day Injured List due to knee inflammation.
But in this topsy-turvy season for the Yankees pitchers, Stroman’s bad break may have saved Will Warren from a trip down to Triple-A.
After opening the season on the injured list, Clarke Schmidt is scheduled to start for the Yankees on Wednesday against Kansas City. His return couldn’t come soon enough.
Entering Sunday’s games, New York had given up 5.14 runs per game, which ranked 26th in MLB. The Yankees were also 26th in the league in team ERA, at 4.67.
While Max Fried has played the part of staff ace, posting a 1.56 ERA, the rest of the starters – Warren (5.14), Carlos Rodon (5.48) and Carlos Corrasco (7.71) – have not done quite so well. With Schmidt’s pending return, it was likely going to be Warren, the rookie right-hander, getting sent to the minors to open up a spot.
Marcus Stroman’s IL Stint Opens Roster Spot for Clarke Schmidt
However, Stroman’s injury ended up opening that spot, so Warren lives to pitch another day. Warren is coming off his first win of the season, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five innings of the 8-4 win over San Francisco on Saturday.
As for Schmidt, he was shut down with a strained rotator cuff after pitching only 1.2 innings in spring training. Schmidt opened the regular season on the injured list but has pitched well in two rehab starts totaling 7.1 scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out 11.
“For me, it’s just getting back in the in-game feel, back in the competitive spirit, pitching in different counts, mixing and matching and getting creative out there and I felt we did that,” Schmidt said after his most recent outing on Thursday. “We were getting into our areas and executing tonight. So I’m happy with that.”
The Yankees are just happy to have Schmidt back.
