Clarke Schmidt is pleased with his stuff and pleased with his health, a helpful combination ahead of a faceoff with Juan Soto’s Mets that might serve as a barometer for how crisp and potent his pitches are playing.
Want to feel encouraged that your, say, cutter or knuckle-curve can be effective against any lefty?
Get Soto to expand his zone and whiff.
“Definitely,” Schmidt said Friday in The Bronx ahead of his Saturday outing against the Mets. “He’s on the short list of guys that, you get him to chase, you feel good where your stuff’s at.”
Schmidt is feeling increasingly optimistic about where his stuff is.
After two poor starts in his first tries off the injured list, Schmidt has been strong three straight outings in allowing six runs on 11 hits in 17 innings (3.18 ERA).
He has walked too many — seven in the span — but has felt better about his command recently.
In his most recent game, a loss in Seattle overshadowed by Oswaldo Cabrera fracturing his ankle, Schmidt walked two.
He let up three runs in six innings because two of the three hits he surrendered left the park.
If the 29-year-old is progressing into the No. 3 starter behind Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, the Yankees rotation would look far more imposing.
“I feel great. My last few, I’ve been getting back on track,” said Schmidt, who pitched to a 2.85 ERA in 16 starts last year. “The command is starting to get better and better each time out.
“Just really starting to feel comfortable with the shapes and being a lot more consistent.”
The simple fact that Schmidt is ready to face Soto on Saturday is encouraging.
He received at least five days rest for his previous four starts, including one that was pushed back because he felt “a little extra soreness” in his left side.
A back hiccup had delayed his spring training buildup, and right rotator cuff tendinitis forced him to the IL until mid-April.
Encouraged by how Schmidt is feeling and not wanting Fried to go a full week between starts (as he would have because of Monday’s off-day), the Yankees did not insert a fifth starter this turn through the rotation and are pitching Schmidt on four days of rest.
Schmidt said his body feels good, which will need to continue when he faces one of the better offenses in baseball and a superstar whom he loved as a teammate and has never faced as an opponent.
The two have talked through social media this year, though there had not been any trash talk leading up to Saturday.
“Anytime you get to face one of the best hitters, it’s exciting,” Schmidt said. “It’s going to be a fun challenge.”
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