Yankees’ pitching staff thinning out fast after more spring training injury news
It. Never. Ends.
It quite literally does not matter what the New York Yankees do. They can spend an entire offseason eyeing one specific goal, achieve that goal, and then the unthinkable will transpire in order to derail the operation.
In a sense, that’s what happened this offseason. When the Yankees lost Juan Soto, they immediately pivoted to pitching and signed Max Fried to a record-breaking deal. Then they acquired closer Devin Williams in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Those additions were expected to transform the pitching staff because of how the rotation lacked an elite 1-2 punch and how poorly Clay Holmes handled high-leverage situations in 2024.
More additions came, too. Tim Hill was re-signed. Jonathan Loaisiga was re-signed under the assumption he’d be healthy for when it mattered most. Fernando Cruz and Michael Arias were acquired via trade. Tyler Matzek was signed to a minor league contract.
This, of course, was a plan devised with hopes of Luis Gil maintaining his dominance; Clarke Schmidt giving the Bombers a somewhat healthy season; Jake Cousins taking steps forward; Scott Effross coming back; Clayton Beeter emerging as somebody; Ian Hamilton getting back to full strength; and so on and so forth.
The Yankees have since been decimated by injuries, and they got even worse news on Friday as it pertained to Matzek, Beeter and Schmidt. Don’t forget, Luis Gil is out until at least June, Hamilton hasn’t pitched yet this spring, Loaisiga is starting the season on the 60-day IL most likely, and Effross is injured again.
