Jul 28, 2025, 06:21 PM ET<\/p>\n
NEW YORK — Sporting a metal brace on his right arm a little over two weeks after undergoing an internal brace procedure on the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, Yankees<\/a> right-hander Clarke Schmidt<\/a> said he is aiming to return after next season’s All-Star break.<\/p>\n “It wasn’t a full reconstruction,” Schmidt said before New York opened a four-game series against Tampa Bay<\/a> on Monday. “They didn’t have to go in and put a new ligament in. Basically, what happened was the ligament was kind of tearing off the bone, so they just reattached it to the bone and they didn’t have go to add any ligament. So that was very encouraging on that part.”<\/p>\n Schmidt had the surgery performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas on July 11 and was told the recovery would take about a year.<\/p>\n “When they say Tommy John, it’s kind of like an umbrella term these days, but from what I was told and everything that I’ve been informed of, it’s kind of the best case of the Tommy John,” Schmidt said. “So around a year, like 11 to 12 months, 11 to 13 months, so very encouraged by that. I think if it was full reconstruction, it would be looking at 14, 16 months. So I think we dodged a major bullet with that.<\/p>\n “Obviously it’s hard to circle a day now, but a little bit after the All-Star break. I know that I’ll definitely be a factor next year. So very encouraged by that.”<\/p>\n Schmidt said he first felt soreness when he pitched 5\u2154 innings against the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> on June 4. He made five starts after that, spanning 29\u2154 innings, and threw 103 pitches in seven hitless innings against the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> on June 21.<\/p>\n