Clarke Schmidt Is the Future of the Yankees' Rotation
Seated in the Yankees’ dugout, Clarke Schmidt takes a deep breath. He adjusts his jersey, running his fingertips along the freshly printed pinstripes, before rising to his feet.
After fist bumps from coaches and teammates, Schmidt finds himself scaling the dugout steps and jogging out onto the field. His metal spikes crunch in the dirt and perfectly manicured grass beneath him as a deafening roar erupts from a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium.
Schmidt reaches the center of the infield, climbs onto the mound and bends at the waist to grab a baseball from the rubber. It’s sparkling between the seams under the lights. He digs in with his heels and turns toward home plate, his glove resting comfortably just above his belt before beginning his windup.
As Schmidt jogged in from the visitor’s bullpen in Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Friday night, making his Major League debut, it certainly wasn’t how he envisioned it.
A starting pitcher coming in with two men on in relief during a one-run game. Sure sounds like the type of situation that would have any ballplayer, even the most experienced late-inning relievers, flooded with nerves.
Not Schmidt. The 24-year-old Georgia native was so amped to officially take a big-league mound for the first time, he wasn’t nervous at all. No turning in his gut, no doubts in his mind.
It may not have been scripted as he’s visualized his debut all his life, but through his mental fortitude and brimming confidence, Schmidt was ready.
Between bites of a yogurt parfait, hours before report time to the Yankees’ Spring Training facility, New York’s top pitching prospect was looking ahead. Not just at his schedule for that day in Tampa Bay, but how he envisions his career with the organization that drafted him.
“Anything is possible and nobody can tell me otherwise,” Schmidt said. “If I put the work in and continue to do the things I need to do, I think anything's possible.”
The game of baseball has been Schmidt’s entire life since he was just a kid, watching his hometown Braves and modeling his game after legends like Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz.
Sure, a Hall of Fame career or decade-plus tenure of dominance in the big leagues is quite the long-term prediction. After all, Schmidt had never pitched above Double-A before his debut on Friday.
Then again, this right-hander’s confidence refuses to be contained.
“In five years, I would say I see myself being the number one for the New York Yankees,” he said without hesitation. “I have full belief in my abilities and in my talents and Lord willing, if I stay healthy, I see myself being the number one on the Yankees with hopefully a couple World Series rings and looking to get the third.”
In the last six months, New York’s top pitching prospect has become a household name, transitioning from a former first-round pick and promising arm in the Bombers’ farm system to a right-hander revered by the fan base and a hurler poised to contribute in the Majors this season.
That transformation began back at Spring Training, long before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sport and baseball began to be played in barren ballparks. Back when you could sit inside a café and grab a quick bite to eat before practice.
At that point in time, Schmidt was a non-roster invitee, one of a slew of highly-touted prospects eager to make a good first impression in his first taste of Major League Spring Training. On paper, however, he was far more than just another arm.
New York picked the right-hander out of the University of South Carolina with the 16th overall selection in the 2017 MLB Draft. In three collegiate seasons, Schmidt was one of the best hurlers in the Southeastern Conference, working his way up to starting on Friday nights for a perennial College World Series contender.
“That's kind of how it is with the Yankees,” he said. “You're in the best organization, you're on the best team, you got the biggest fan bases, you got the biggest stadiums, are in the hardest division. So, it's kind of the same thing, but it's just on a whole other scale.”
In his second season as a Gamecock, Schmidt led his team by tossing 111 1/3 innings over 18 starts and recording 129 strikeouts. The following spring, he proved that he was worthy of being picked in the first round, posting a 1.34 ERA in nine outings (60 1/3 innings) with 70 punch outs.
Season-ending Tommy John surgery only fueled Schmidt to work harder. With what he had already accomplished in college, the right-hander already knew he had what it takes to pursue pitching at the next level.
“It was probably my junior or senior year of high school where I knew I wanted to play baseball in my life,” he said. “I started to realize then that I could go as far and as long as I want with this game. Then, I really just strapped the bootstraps on and was like, ‘I'm gonna give it all I’ve got on this thing.’”
After rehabbing his elbow, Schmidt didn’t miss a beat.
In his first two seasons in the Yankees’ system, Schmidt saw his name skyrocket up the leaderboards of prospect rankings—both within the organization and across the league.
Across three levels in 2019, culminating with three magnificent starts in Double-A Trenton at the end of last season, Schmidt posted a 3.47 ERA and struck out 102 across 19 appearances and 90 2/3 innings pitched.
“I just pride myself on working hard. I want to be the hardest worker in the room,” Schmidt explained. “Whatever I need to do to stay healthy and whatever I need to do to perform at the maximum level, I'll do it.”
Being the hardest worker in the room when you’re surrounded by All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, however, is another story.
In the early days of Spring Training this February, Schmidt recalled one unforgettable moment as he arrived early one morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. He parked his car, ready to start another day of workouts, but before getting out, he shut off the radio and took a few minutes to reflect.
“This is unreal,” he thought. “These are all the things that I’ve worked my whole life for. Now it’s on the tips of my fingers and it's within grasp. It makes me work that much harder and appreciate it that much more with just how far I've come.”
The best part of the journey in Schmidt’s eyes is he believes whole heartedly that this is just the beginning. That visualization he’s carried with him his entire career has been a staple of his routine since February, carrying on through Grapefruit League play and a four-plus month quarantine, stretching all the way into Summer Camp and beyond.
Part of that visualization process is as simple as running through a lineup card the night before he is scheduled to take the mound, but Schmidt takes it a step further. The right-hander doesn’t just take a peek at paperwork the night before. He goes through the intricacies of each at-bat, envisioning exactly how he’s going to get all nine players out the next day.
“I like to try to find out a lineup card that I'm going to be facing, do my research as far as whatever the strengths and weaknesses are and then kind of visualize myself going through that lineup,” he spelled out. “Normally the night before I'd like to go through the lineup one time how I would throw every single pitch.”
That extends to the day of his start and the hours before he takes the field.
Schmidt will find a quiet place prior to his warmups, sitting in the clubhouse or weight room, and elaborately envision his time toeing the slab. By taking a look back at something positive he’s done previously in his career—like a spectacular performance from his final year at South Carolina for instance—he puts himself in a place where he’s mentally ready to be effective on the mound.
“I want to visualize what I feel like when I'm warming up, I want to feel what I'm doing in the bullpen, what it feels like when I'm running out with the crowd,” Schmidt explained. “Just be very detailed, to be able in my mind to go through that experience before I do it myself.”
Obviously those projections don’t always come to fruition exactly as Schmidt plans them. That was certainly the case on Friday night in Baltimore, just hours after he was told he would be on New York’s taxi squad and subsequently added to the active roster for the nightcap of a doubleheader.
While he couldn’t settle into his routine as a starter, Schmidt found the time to wander away from his teammates in the ‘pen on Friday, finding a place to get in his zone.
Those precious moments, Schmidt said, were instrumental in him feeling like he did a sufficient job mentally adjusting to coming out of the bullpen, which he had done just twice over his last two years in the minor leagues.
Results side, as he would go on to surrender two runs on three hits over an inning and a third, Schmidt showcased what he is capable of. As his backstop Erik Kratz put it after his debut, his stuff is “incredible” and will play at the big-league level moving forward.
The thing is, using these visualization techniques, Schmidt had already proven to his coaches and teammates that he belongs through his performance from Spring Training to Summer Camp.
Over four official Spring Training appearances, the right-hander struck out eight across seven innings while allowing just two earned runs to score. Schmidt quickly became the type of pitcher that you didn’t want to miss, whether you were in the seats at George M. Steinbrenner Field or glued to a television or laptop screen thousands of miles away.
His performance in Grapefruit League play was so strong that Schmidt was the recipient of the 2020 James P. Dawson Award, a prize given annually to the most outstanding Yankees rookie in Spring Training. Past winners of the Dawson Award include Gleyber Torres, Brett Gardner, Jorge Posada, Al Leiter and Don Mattingly, just to name a few.
“Pitch repertoire is excellent,” Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone said months ago about Schmidt’s spring performance. “His athleticism on the mound allows him to have a real clean delivery. There’s an absolute presence to him. He believes he belongs here.”
Yankees’ rookie pitching coach Matt Blake echoed the skipper’s praise.
“I think overall he’s been really impressive this spring and he’s got major league quality stuff. It’s just a matter of consistency and repeatability and learning to pitch to better hitters and a tighter strike zone,” Blake said.
Beyond his production and growth with the ball in his hand, Schmidt’s insatiable desire to get better and learn from those around him was constantly on display.
He recalled picking Gerrit Cole’s brain, learning about spin efficiencies and how the Yankees’ ace was able to take a major leap from the beginning of his career with the Pirates to where he is now.
In fact, if you listen to the both of them talk pitching, you’ll notice quite a few similarities. Perhaps a sign of what’s to come.
“I don't think there's anybody that has bad information here. All those guys know what they're doing. That's why they're there and they've been there for so long,” Schmidt said, dropping names like veterans J.A. Happ and James Paxton.
It isn’t just other pitchers that Schmidt has learned from.
After giving up a booming home run in a simulated game to Clint Frazier, on one of the back fields at the Bombers’ spring facility, Schmidt went out of his way to flag down the Yankees’ outfielder. Standing in the dugout, as their teammates began trotting back to the clubhouse, the two spoke candidly about what pitches had worked well and what specifically happened on the home run ball.
Facing Frazier was just a taste of what was to come. After quarantining during MLB’s COVID-19 hiatus, Schmidt settled into a routine pitching to his teammates in the Bronx at Summer Camp in intrasquads and sim games.
At one point, he struck out both Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu, among others.
“Clarke made me look silly,” first baseman Luke Voit said. “He did a really good job.”
Highlights of Schmidt’s arsenal would circulate on social media each time he toed the rubber. From filthy breaking balls plummeting sharply through the zone, resulting in flailing attempts to make contact from talented hitters, to changeups floating laterally from corner to corner, Schmidt’s celebrity grew as fast as his heater zips past the plate.
“Very confident and I think that shows on the mound,” Happ said after pitching against Schmidt in an intrasquad. “He’s got that confidence and a little bit of that swagger... He definitely has a bright future.”
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It’s one thing to visualize pitching on the biggest stage against some of the game’s best, but Schmidt relished his Summer Camp opportunities, an experience he would later say fueled his hunger and kindled his “burning desire” to be at the highest level and never turn back.
“I learned that I can compete at this level. I can get outs at this level,” he said in the final days of training camp. “You never know how you’re going to fare until you get up here and I felt like I fared very well. I was very comfortable, not out of sorts at all, to me it was just another baseball game in a bigger stadium.”
How Schmidt specifically fits in with the Yankees’ pitching staff for the remainder of the 2020 campaign is up in the air. With the Yankees reeling, plagued with injuries for a second-straight season and sinking further away from first place in their division, Boone said he sees Schmidt having an impact down the stretch in a “multi-inning role,” with the possibility of starting some games as well.
While his role is still being determined, one thing is for certain. This right-hander is here to stay.
With just enough time remaining for Schmidt to drive to George M. Steinbrenner Field and start his day of workouts, he rose from his side of the booth to begin strolling toward the exit of the café.
Before he could leave, however, a woman approached him, kindly asking if he was a baseball player.
“Yes ma’am,” he said. “I’m with the Yankees organization.”
She quickly explained her grandson is a 14-year-old prospect, a left-handed pitcher, that’s already received offers to play college ball.
“Can I give him any advice from you?” she asked politely.
Schmidt didn’t hesitate, sitting back down to preach briefly about confidence and setting goals to follow your passions.
“Whatever he wants out of this game, he’s capable of it,” Schmidt told her. “Just continue to work hard and don’t give up.”
She was beyond appreciative, wishing him good luck as Schmidt began to walk out the door.
Schmidt has already begun to blossom off the field as well, building his reputation as someone who treats people the right way. After all, beyond mapping his career out by visualizing his future on the mound, he’s says helping others is something he’s envisioned all along as well.
Judging by where Schmidt aspires to take his career on the diamond, that brief interaction in a café in Tampa Bay in February is just a taste of what’s to come in the Big Apple.
“There’s nothing better than wearing the ‘NY’ across your chest and having that hat on and the pinstripes, it’s just a different feeling than wearing any other uniform,” Schmidt said. “Hopefully this is just the beginning.”
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