ADD ANOTHER NAME! THE YANKEE PITCHING PROBLEMS ARE PILING UP!

Okay seriously are we cursed? There must be some bad juju in that clubhouse. Did a black cat cross Aaron Boone's path? Did Brian Cashman walk underneath a ladder or open an umbrella indoors? The Yankees have ANOTHER pitcher who may be out. The spring from hell continues....

Yesterday Mark Leiter Jr. joined the list of potentially injured pitchers, and now we get to add Clarke Schmidt and hold our breath, read more HERE. Schmidt is dealing with a sore shoulder and will not start against the Blue Jays today, instead he will throw a bullpen session. Now we just wait and hold our breath that this isn't a big deal....and I hate waiting and hoping. The Yankees say no tests ae scheduled, but that doesn't make me feel better.

He's "not getting all the way back to how he normally would." Those are some scary words right now. It's late in Spring Training and we have another pitcher with shoulder problems. The Yankee rotation is being held together by stitches, and the real action hasn't even started yet and we are limping to the start of the season. This is not how we want to start a season. The Yankees need to take a long hard look in the mirror here.

We talk about this every season. The Yankees medical, strength and conditioning staff are sub par. Every year, our anchors on the roster are hurt and they get them conditioned and then keep them healthy. It's a real problem....and it's one they need to deal with by tearing it all down to the studs and rebuilding it. If the Yankees had better personnel in this arena maybe Giancarlo Stanton wouldn't still be dealing with two bad elbows even after it was a known issue last season. Oh, and maybe Aaron Judge wouldn't have played with a broken rib and a partially collapsed lung back in 2020. How on earth was that missed? It's insane. But no....the medical staff as a whole isn't a problem.... it's just a bunch of weird and random problems, right? Gimme a break.

The Yankees can afford the best medical, training and conditioning team that money can buy. SO why are we consistently talking about this? We want to get back to a World Series again this year, and this isn't how we start it off. I really hope Schmidt is okay.... but shoulder problems are a real concern. At this point, I am worried about what we will have here in 10 short days.

The Yankees' pitching staff is on life support right now....and it's scary. The Yankees can spend all the money they want for their product on the field, but if the medical, and strength and conditioning staff aren't doing their part it's time to make changes. It's not hard to see.

I hope Leiter Jr and Schmidt are both okay. I hope our luck changes and we stop getting injured. We can't take much more of this....

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj