ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It hasn’t always been pretty for Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt. Actually, April and the first part of May mostly were pretty ugly.
If not for the Yankees’ rotation missing key starters all season long, Schmidt might have started the season in Triple-A and he certainly wouldn’t have kept his spot all year.
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But Schmidt, who was a hard-luck loser while working a career-best 6 2/3 innings Saturday in the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Rays, persevered through the bad times while making baby steps of improvement.
Eventually Schmidt progressed so much that he’s become their second-best starter behind American League Cy Young favorite Gerrit Cole. Except for one recent terrible start in Atlanta and a couple average ones, he’s been so good the last 3½ months that he’ll probably be in the 2024 Yankees’ rotation regardless of what happens in the offseason.
If next season’s rotation was put on paper now, it would include Cole, Schmidt, lefties Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortez. Randy Vasquez or Jhony Brito would hold the fifth spot until the Yankees sign a free agent or add a starter through a trade.
Schmidt was very good in defeat again in his final August start. The 27-year-old righty held the Rays to three run, including one earned, on six hits before leaving with two outs in the seventh inning. He struck out five and didn’t walk anyone in a 99-pitch outing.
This was just the second time that Schmidt has pitched into the seventh. In Denver on July 15, he allowed a leadoff homer in the seventh and then was replaced with the Yankees up 6-2 on the Rockies.
In Saturday’s game, the Rays took a 2-0 second-inning lead after an error by third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa led to two unearned runs. Back-to-back doubles in the Rays’ third accounted for the other run.
That was all the Rays needed with ace Tyler Glasnow blanking the Yankees on one hit and two walks through six…
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