Clarke Schmidt still questionable for Yankees Opening Day roster after shoulder fatigue scare

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees from spring training TAMPA — Clarke Schmidt bounced back well from Monday’s bullpen session, but even that might not be enough to have him ready to start the season on time. The Yankees’ plan as of Tuesday is to have Schmidt, who was scratched from Monday’s scheduled start with shoulder fatigue, throw live batting practice on Thursday.Even if that goes well, he would only have enough time to make one more outing before Opening Day, which would likely only get him built up to somewhere around 50 pitches — and that’s if everything goes well with his recovery. So as the Yankees begin to internally discuss final roster decisions a week away from breaking camp, they are weighing whether to carry Schmidt on their initial roster with limited length or have him start the season on the injured list so he can finish off his buildup properly in Tampa. “It just depends, do we want to keep building him up for another start or two?” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday after a 4-4 tie with the Red Sox.

“That’ll be the question we have to answer.Obviously he’s not going to be up to a pitch level.

So we’ll make that call here, does it make the most sense to get him up there and build him there or make more sense — because I think he has a start around Opening Day, do you give him one [more]? We’ll see.” Schmidt threw 38 pitches in his first and only Grapefruit League start last week and indicated on Tuesday that his next outing would likely be somewhere around the same pitch count. If Schmidt starts the season on the IL, that would allow the Yankees to begin the season with both Carlos Carrasco (who has a March 22 opt-out if he is not added to the roster) and Will Warren in the rotation. That appears the likelier scenario at this point rather than rushing Schmidt back, especially after already having lost G...