Clarke Schmidt won’t break camp with the Yankees, but the pitching prospect made the most of his opportunities in both spring training. The 24-year-old right-hander was named the 2020 James P. Dawson Award winner, awarded to the Yankees’ top rookie in spring training.
“Something highly hyped and it’s delivered in every way,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He is in the conversation to be with us sometime this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was, not just if he was, but if he’s playing a role for us.”
Schmidt will head to the Yankees’ training site in Scranton / Wilkes-Barre to stay ready.
“I learned that I can compete at this level,” said Schmidt. “I hope this is just the beginning for me.”
A final decision has not been made on whether DJ LeMahieu, who was late for Spring 2.0 training after recovering from COVID-19, would be ready to play on opening day. Boone said the club planned to talk about it on Tuesday.
The Yankees signed left-handed reliever Luis Avilan, right-handed reliever David Hale and catcher Chris Iannetta to major league contracts and added them to the 40-player roster.
The club also reassigned pitchers Schmidt, Deivi Garcia, Brooks Kriske, Tyler Lyons, Nick Nelson, Nick Tropeano, Miguel Yajure and Tony Zych, catcher Erik Kratz, infielder Matt Duffy and outfielders Estevan Florial and Zack Granite to alternative training site.
Relief Dan Otero was placed on the restricted list.
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