The Yankees made it official on September 16: Oswaldo Cabrera was designated for assignment and Clarke Schmidt was activated from the 60-day IL in the same move. Schmidt had been out 14 months recovering from his second Tommy John surgery — the first came back in 2017 — and he’s back just in time to fight for a bullpen spot in October. Cabrera, who signed with the organization out of Venezuela at age 16, closes his chapter in the Bronx after just three big-league appearances this season.
Why Schmidt, and Why Now
The Yankees had a 40-man roster crunch and one uncomfortable variable: reliever Fernando Cruz has a partial UCL tear but is attempting to keep pitching through it. Rather than shift Cruz to the 60-day IL, the front office found another path — and that path ran through Cabrera.
Schmidt earned this call-up. Across five rehab starts split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he threw 11.1 innings, posted a 3.86 ERA, struck out 11 and walked just one. His final three outings included 4.1 consecutive scoreless innings — exactly the kind of upward trend that convinces a coaching staff a pitcher is ready.
Schmidt didn’t undersell the journey when he got back to the dugout in Minneapolis: «It’s been a long road, a lot of work, a lot of long days and late nights,» he said, per BVM Sports on September 16.
The plan isn’t to slot him into the rotation. With Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón locked into October turns, Schmidt heads to the bullpen to earn his postseason stripes one out at a time.
Cabrera: Eleven Years in the System, Three Games in 2026
Oswaldo Cabrera entered the Yankees organization in 2015 as a 16-year-old prospect from Venezuela. He debuted in the majors on August 17, 2022, and spent parts of five seasons in the Bronx as a utility man who played every position except catcher. But his career .635 OPS kept him perpetually on the bubble between the active roster and Triple-A.
In 2026, that bubble kept him in Scranton for 122 games, where he hit .288/.345/.444 — solid numbers for the level. He made just three appearances at the big-league level before this move ended his season.
Manager Aaron Boone was generous in his send-off: «He’s somebody you admire, respect and love having next to you at work every day. Oswaldo is right at the top of that list,» Boone told TSN on September 16.
At 27, Cabrera now enters a seven-day window in which the Yankees can trade him, run him through waivers or release him outright. His versatility and affordable contract make him a legitimate claim candidate.
Schmidt’s Career Context: 3.82 ERA and Two Tommy Johns in the Rearview
Before October arrives, it’s worth remembering who Schmidt actually is. In six seasons with New York he’s 23-24 with a 3.82 ERA and 384 strikeouts — respectable numbers for a pitcher who has never strung together a full, healthy season. In 2025 he was 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts when his elbow shut him down on July 3. The surgery on July 11 used an internal brace, the same technique that has become standard practice for second-time Tommy John procedures.
Bringing Schmidt back with a few weeks of regular season left is a deliberate bet by the Yankees: let him shake off the rust in lower-stakes games before the lights get brighter. If September doesn’t go well, the October roster can reflect that. If it does, the Bronx has one more arm that already knows what winning in that city feels like.
The Statcast Picture on Cabrera
Oswaldo Cabrera’s 2026 Statcast numbers tell a complicated story in a small sample:
- 11 plate appearances in 2026
- 0 home runs, 0 RBI
- AVG: .000 | OPS: .000
- xwOBA: .148 — what contact quality suggests he should be producing
- Average exit velocity: 89.6 mph
- Barrel rate: 0%
- Hard-hit rate: 42.9% (balls hit 95 mph or harder)
The contradiction is real: a 42.9% hard-hit rate says he’s making solid contact, but an xwOBA of .148 says none of that force translated into anything useful across these 11 trips to the plate. The sample is too small for a definitive verdict — but it’s large enough to explain why the Yankees didn’t hesitate when the moment came to choose.
