TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees can’t afford to have any more injury adversity in their starting rotation this spring, but the blows keep on coming. They’ve already lost Gerrit Cole for the year (Tommy John surgery) and Luis Gil (high-grade lat strain) for the first three months of the season, if not more.

The New York Yankees ' pitching depth is already being tested, and there's another reason for concern. According to manager Aaron Boone, Clarke Schmidt has been scratched from his scheduled start Monday against the Blue Jays due to shoulder soreness.

For New York Yankees fans, this has to feel like a surreal episode of “The Twilight Zone.” On February 28, pitcher Luis Gil, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, sustained a high-grade right lat strain during a bullpen session.