Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt is expected to have season-ending Tommy John surgery

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt likely needs a second Tommy John surgery that would sideline him for the remainder of this season and much of next year, a huge blow to New York's injury-riddled rotation.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone made the announcement Saturday, acknowledging the injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in Schmidt's right elbow.

“We’re making sure we have all the opinions," Boone said, "but I think it’s pretty much inevitable.”

Schmidt had an MRI on Friday and was placed on the 15-day injured list because of right forearm soreness, one day after his start in Toronto was cut short following three innings.

The 29-year-old right-hander, who had Tommy John surgery 8 years ago, is 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts this season for a scuffling Yankees club that had lost five consecutive games.

“He’s become a really, really good starting pitcher in this league. So, it’s a tough blow," Boone said. "Every team has their share of these things that happen and we’ve got to be able to absorb it and hopefully get some guys back in the mix soon and create another opportunity for somebody else to hopefully step in and pick up the slack.”

Cam Schlittler, a 24-year-old right-hander, could be the immediate short-term replacement. He is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in five starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since he was promoted from Double-A Somerset on June 3.

“We’ll make that call next week," Boone said before his team’s Subway Series game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. "Obviously, we’ll have to insert somebody. So we’re kind of working through that.”

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will miss the entire season following Tommy John surgery.

Right-hander Luis Gil, sidelined since straining his right lat during spring training, will throw either a third batting practice session Tuesday or Wednesday, or begin a minor league rehab assignment. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year threw to hitters on June 21 for the first time since getting hurt.

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, out since June 20 because of a right oblique strain, is feeling better and should resume throwing pretty soon, Boone said.

Right-hander Yerry de los Santos (elbow discomfort) threw a bullpen Saturday and his buildup is progressing.

Schmidt had Tommy John surgery in May 2017, a month before the Yankees selected him with the 16th overall pick in the amateur draft from South Carolina.

Now in his sixth major league season, he said he’d been dealing with soreness in his arm since his June 4 outing against Cleveland.

Schmidt left a June 21 start versus Baltimore after a career-high 103 pitches in seven hitless innings, part of a streak of 28 1/3 scoreless innings.

“When I talked to him a couple hours ago, he was in pretty good spirits," Boone said. "Like, it is what it is. Unfortunate. In a lot of ways obviously, devastated and bummed out. But Clarke’s way is you’ve got to flip the script and he’s getting his mind into, let’s get it fixed and get on with it and start to get after the rehab portion of it. So I think mentally that’s where he’s at.”

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New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt reacts as he heads to the dugout in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, June 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt (36) walks off the field during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during first-inning baseball game action in Toronto, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Thomas Skrlj/The Canadian Press via AP)

New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt (36) throws during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt (36) walks off the field during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

For years, federal health officials joined doctors' groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she said in a statement.

Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)