Clarke Schmidt

Schmidt took a step forward in 2023 as he joined the Yankee rotation, but was really beginning to shine in 2024 until a right lat strained derailed his season for three months. Schmidt, prior to that late May injury, was 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA and a 19.0% K-BB% and had reduced the home run rate which plagued him in 2023. Schmidt returned in September to make fiave start, but the rust showed ad was not as crisp nor was he able to even garner a win in any of the five outings. Schmidt did make a repertoire adjustment form 2023 as he further leaned into the success of his new cutter to make it his primary weapon of choice. Schmidt threw cutters, sweepers, sinkers, and knuckle-curves to both righties and lefties at near equal levels and that mixutre helps keep hitters off-balance enough to put Schmidt in the top 20th percentile for avoiding barrels and better than average in avoiding hard contact. The lat strain could have been his body's reaction to his workload nearly tripling from 2022 to 2023, so the rest the injury offered him in 2024 should help Schmidt get another strong start out of the gate. As long as he continues to utilize his quartet of offerings as he has to both righties and lefties, the pieces are in place for him to combine the ingredients of success in previous seasons into one delicious 2025 season. Read Past Outlooks