Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt is nearing a return to the active roster after undergoing Tommy John surgery, with a rehab assignment planned if he recovers well from recent bullpen sessions. Schmidt completed an 18-pitch live session on Tuesday, a significant step in his recovery, and could provide a boost to the Yankees' pitching depth during their playoff push.

Manager Aaron Boone expressed optimism about Schmidt's potential contribution. "I think he could really help us," Boone said. "He’s not going to get back to that this year, but to get him, when he’s on his game, he’s got a lot of weapons that could really land him a role down there, whether it’s an inning, a couple innings, whatever it may be."

Schmidt acknowledged the delicate balance of returning to a playoff race while managing his recovery. "There’s a little bit of training wheels at first, but I’m coming in in big situations right here, in a pennant race, so I understand that," he said. "I kind of embrace that pressure of, ‘Hey, there’s expectation. I know you’re coming off of surgery, but we got to get outs here.’"

Pitching coach Matt Blake indicated that the team will need to see Schmidt comfortable pitching with short rest. "Having an extra body in September helps to provide some flexibility, but it’s hard to protect one-inning guys like that," Blake noted. "I think we want to feel comfortable with him managing the up-downs and pitch-off-pitch. But the stuff looked good today."

Meanwhile, left-handed pitcher Max Fried is also nearing a return from the injured list. Fried, dealing with a left elbow bone bruise, threw four innings and 60 pitches of live batting practice on Monday. He is in line to potentially be activated as early as Saturday, the first day he is eligible, to pitch in one of the doubleheader games against the Red Sox.

"Potentially," Boone said when asked about Fried's potential activation for Saturday. "But we’ll see where we are as these next couple days unfold."

In other roster moves, Giancarlo Stanton was transferred to the 60-day injured list on Tuesday to make room for reliever Justin Topa on the 40-man roster. This procedural move comes after Stanton had already exceeded 60 days on the injured list due to calf injuries.