The Yankees optioned Schmidt to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.
After striking out five while tossing three scoreless innings last Thursday in a spot start against the Rays, Schmidt moved back to the bullpen this week when Luis Severino was cleared to return from the COVID-19-related injured list. Schmidt appeared in both of the past two games and gave up one earned run over 1.2 innings, and he'll now be moved off the 26-man active roster with the Yankees needing to clear room for waiver pickup Albert Abreu. It's unclear if the Yankees plan to have Schmidt stretch out for starting duty at Triple-A or if he'll continue working as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen.