Thursday was a day to remember for former South Carolina star pitcher Clarke Schmidt. For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, the 26-year-old right-hander pitched eight scoreless innings.
Striking out eight, Schmidt allowed just three hits and walked none in the New York Yankees 5-0 win against the Minnesota Twins. Throwing 103 pitches, that’s also a new career-high for him. With the win, Schmidt improves to (5-1) on the year.
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“I told (Yankees manager Aaron Boone) that I’m at this point I might as well go back out there for (the ninth inning),” Schmidt said following the game. “I’m happy that he let me (stay) out there as long as he did. It’s kind of tough. You don’t have a lot of feet to stand on when you’ve already thrown 101 pitches. But, obviously I’m very grateful to have a great start and to come away with a big sweep.”
Prior to Thursday’s game, Schmidt had never completed even seven innings in his MLB career. His previous high was 6.2 which he pitched in his last outing on May 10 and again in 2023.
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“I think being able to do it in back-to-back starts and kind of managed the pitch count and continue to push the envelope of going deeper and deeper in games. Obviously it feels really good. It’s been a heavy talking point from just the outside. So, to be able to go out there and do that, it definitely felt really good.”
A first round draft pick by the Yankees with the 16th overall pick in 2017, Clarke made his MLB debut in 2020. Since then, he’s gone (18-16) in 75 appearances with 45 regular season starts. Since making his big league debut, he’s seen his ERA drop every season. With a career ERA of 4.14, Schmidt’s current ERA of 2.49 is the eighth lowest in the American League.
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