Yankees prospect Schmidt on big league trajectory
The road to the majors will eventually run through Trenton again.
Minor League Baseball is in limbo this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, putting the development of Yankees prospects on hold.
With that in mind, The Trentonian will be examining some of the organization’s top prospects who have been assigned to the Thunder’s roster this season.
First up is right-handed pitcher Clarke Schmidt, rated No. 2 in the system by MLB Pipeline.
How He Was Acquired
Schmidt was the Yankees’ first-round draft pick (16th overall) in 2017 out of South Carolina, despite the fact that he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow two months earlier. He’s an Acworth, Georgia native who attended nearby Allatoona High School.
The 24-year-old is one three first-round picks (shortstop Anthony Volpe in 2019 and catcher Anthony Seigler in 2018) who are among the Yankees’ top-30 prospects.
What He’s Done In The Minors
In two minor league seasons, Schmidt has made 27 regular-season appearances (25 as a starter) with 114 innings pitched. During that time, he’s posted a 3.39 ERA while striking out 132 batters and walking 34.
Coming off his surgery, Schmidt began in the Gulf Coast League (Rookie Ball) in June of 2018. He then made two outings with Low-A Staten Island before moving on to High-A Tampa at the start of 2019. He missed five weeks in May and June because of elbow inflammation, but he impressed the Yankees enough to get the call up to Double-A on Aug. 15.
Schmidt settled in after a rough first outing in which he yielded five runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings, ending the regular season with 13.2 scoreless frames with five hits, 14 strikeouts and no walks.
“This is the best my stuff has been in my career,” Schmidt said after his first Double-A start.
He then helped Trenton to the Eastern League title with two strong postseason outings. In Game 1 of the ELDS, he pitched the final six innings (two hits, one unearned run) in relief of rehabbing starter Jordan Montgomery. In Game 3 of the ELCS, he fanned nine batters while allowing one run in 4.2 innings.
Scouting Report
At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Schmidt features a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, changeup and curveball. His fourseamer tops out at 97 mph, while the twoseamer sits in the mid-90s with heavy sink for generating ground balls (52.2% ground balls in 2019).
“His tumbling changeup bottoms out at the plate and his low-80s curve features good depth,” MLB Pipeline wrote in its 2020 scouting report.
Although Schmidt scrapped his slider to focus on the curveball, Schmidt still uses a variation of the slider by throwing his curveball with more velocity later in counts.
Projection
Schmidt arguably has the best four-pitch mix in the system, which led many to believe he could join the Yankees’ starting rotation as soon as this year given the injuries to Luis Severino and James Paxton.
He could still get a taste of the majors if MLB operates a shortened season, with 2021 almost a certainty because New York may lose Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and
J.A. Happ in free agency.
Schmidt still needs to prove himself in Triple-A, as well as ease concerns that his smaller frame can stay durable. But there’s no doubt the Yankees are high on Schmidt, who was a non-roster invitee to big-league camp in spring training.
“Schmidt has a history of throwing strikes but his control has stood out more than his command,” MLB Pipeline wrote in its 2020 scouting report. “He was especially sharp after reaching Double-A in mid-August, looking like he could fit into the middle of the Yankees’ rotation in the near future.”