Clarke Schmidt on track to make Yankees season debut on April 15 or 16

NEW YORK (AP) — Clarke Schmidt is on track to make his New York Yankees season debut on April 15 or 16 against the Kansas City Royals.

Schmidt is recovering from right rotator cuff tendinitis and set to start Saturday for Double-A Somerset at Hartford, his first game action since a March 11 exhibition against Baltimore.

“One more after and then with us either the 15th or 16th,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday.

A 29-year-old right-hander, Schmidt is among three projected starters absent from the Yankees rotation. Ace Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, will miss the season following Tommy John surgery. Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is sidelined until summer because of a lat strain.

Right-hander Ian Hamilton, recovering from a viral illness, made his second relief appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night. Boone said Hamilton will have one more minor league outing, then be activated for Monday's series opener at Detroit.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu is about a week from getting at-bats against pitching. The 36-year-old, a two-time batting champion, injured a calf muscle in his spring training debut on March 1.

“It would be probably a pretty big build-up. I’d want him to have kind of a spring training, really,” Boone said.

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This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Schmidt's first name to Clarke throughout.

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