Injuries have sidetracked the Yankees season so far, but one of their top prospects is showing encouraging signs he is not only recovered from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2017, he’s developing into the pitcher the organization had hoped for.
Clarke Schmidt, whom the Yankees picked in the first round shortly after the elbow surgery, made his debut with Class-A Tampa on Thursday and tossed five perfect innings, striking out nine.
“He was actually better than his line,” Yankees minor league pitching coordinator Danny Borrell said by phone of the 23-year-old. “He topped out at 95-96 [MPH] with a great curve and changeup and threw a lot of strikes. He was as good as advertised.”
Schmidt might have been a top-10 overall pick if he hadn’t suffered the elbow injury during his junior season at South Carolina, and the Yankees decided to draft him with their first pick even after the surgery.
Damon Oppenheimer, director of amateur scouting, understood they were taking a chance on the right-hander, for several reasons.
“When an amateur is coming back from Tommy John, it adds another challenge,” Oppenheimer said. “When a big leaguer has it, you already know their makeup and they’ve already pitched in the majors. An amateur still has to develop into someone that can pitch in the majors, and you’re adding a recovery to that. So you have to know what the work ethic is.”
Oppenheimer and the Yankees were impressed enough with Schmidt’s stuff before the injury and his mindset that they rolled the dice.
“The ceiling we saw with him was that he could be a top-of-the-rotation guy and had the makeup where he was worth the risk,” Oppenheimer said.
Schmidt finished last season with two starts at Class-A Staten Island and took another step Thursday.
“It was great to see,” Oppenheimer said of Schmidt, scheduled to start again Wednesday. “Our people there said his stuff was good and he competed. I guess you could say there’s some relief that the stuff was what we saw when he was at his peak when he was an amateur. He’s on the right path.”
While he remains far away from being able to help in the majors, Schmidt could move his way up soon or perhaps be an asset the Yankees can move at the trade deadline.
“I’m excited to see what he can do,” Borrell said. “We believe he’s someone who can push his way up the system pretty quickly. … He knows this is just one step to the end goal.”
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Boone: You know my mama wanted me to be a Manager.
Judge: My dad wanted me to be a baseball player.
Boone: Well you're better than any player I ever had. And you're the best God damn player I ever saw. Suit up.
