Yankees Spring Training: Schmidt Hot, German Not

The Yankees’ starting rotation will have its depth tested early due to injuries to starters Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon. As a result, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt will be in the rotation to begin the season.

However, Rodon’s absence won’t be too long as he’s expected to return in late April-early May. This means that either Schmidt or German will be taken out of the rotation once the lefty’s arm is built up and ready to go.

If Thursday and Friday’s Spring Training games are any indication, Schmidt looks more likely to keep his spot.

The 27-year old righty was used primarily in the bullpen in 2022 as a long reliever, but also made three starts. In Spring Training this year, he developed a new pitch, a cutter, to strengthen his pitch mix and his case to become a starter full-time.

The Yankees pitcher who has stood out the most to opp scouts assigned to the team this spring?
Clarke Schmidt received more than a few votes. "Pretty filthy," one AL scout said. Of the cutter Schmidt has been incorporating, an NL scout said: "Nasty. Looks more than legit to me."
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 17, 2023

Although German is the more proven pitcher who won 18 games in 2019, he is particularly prone to giving up home runs, allowing 11 homers in just 72 innings in 2022. In that same 2019 season, pitching 143 innings, he gave up 30 homers.

Schmidt and German would start for the Yankees on Thursday and Friday, respectively, and the stat lines couldn’t be any more different.

On Thursday, Schmidt completely baffled the Pittsburgh Pirates. He faced 15 batters and retired all of them for five perfect innings. Schmidt wasn’t just dominant; he was efficient, throwing just 50 pitches and allowing only one fly ball in play. He also struck out seven Pirates for good measure, including five consecutive.

Clarke Schmidt tonight:

5 IP, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 H, 0 BB, 50 P pic.twitter.com/583WtTm40z
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 16, 2023

Schmidt’s stuff looked just as good as his overall performance. Here are his RPMs (revolutions per minute) on his pitches on Thursday. That’s a lot of spin.

Clarke Schmidt’s average RPMs in his start against the Pirates:

Slider: 2853 RPMs
Sinker: 2440
Knucklecurve: 2891
Cutter: 2617 pic.twitter.com/uDJfY2Kwfa
— Joe Randazzo 📚📕📖 (@LibrarianJoe_) March 17, 2023

In contrast, German struggled mightily on Friday against the Detroit Tigers. Facing 19 batters in 2.2 innings, German struck out only one batter while being tagged for seven runs (all earned) on nine hits. His aforementioned struggles with the gopher ball were on full display, as he gave up four home runs. Although he didn’t walk anybody, he still plunked two batters.

Domingo Germán's line against the Tigers is ... yikes.

2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 4 HR, 2 HBP, 0 BB, 1 K
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) March 17, 2023

After allowing one run each in the first and second innings, German allowed five runs and three homers before being taken out of the game.

Domingo Germán has allowed four home runs today in Lakeland, three homers here in the third inning.

It's definitely a windy spring training day, but he's not exactly missing barrels this afternoon...
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) March 17, 2023

Granted, Spring Training tends to be more beneficial towards younger players and prospects than veterans, but the disparity of these performances still needs to be noted. One player had their strengths highlighted, while the other had their biggest weakness exploited.

Perhaps the Yankees could see differently once the regular season starts, as both pitchers will begin the year in the rotation. But once Carlos Rodon is healthy, it wouldn’t be surprising if Schmidt is there to stay and German takes a bullpen role.

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