South Carolina Baseball: Ranking the top-15 pitchers in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Baseball’s No. 9 Greatest Pitcher of All-Time:
Clarke Schmidt
Clarke Schmidt (2015-2017) controversially came to South Carolina despite his brother Clate pitching for the rival Clemson Tigers. Many questioned the decision at the time, but Gamecock fans sure are glad the younger Schmidt chose their school.
As a freshman, Schmidt was bounced around between a starting role and a bullpen job, but he was better as a starter. Noticing the trend, the Carolina coaching staff kept Schmidt in the rotation in 2016, and he repaid their loyalty with an All-American season as a sophomore.
Schmidt’s junior season was on pace to be one of the best starting pitcher seasons in the history of South Carolina baseball (1.34 ERA and 0.98 WHIP), but a torn UCL ended his season.
Even after his Tommy John surgery, Schmidt was taken in the 1st round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees. He worked his way up through the Minor Leagues and has recently become one of the steadiest pitchers in all of baseball, posting 15-straight starts with 3 runs allowed or fewer. At the point of this writing, he is one of four pitchers with 19 such games this season.
Clarke Schmidt has started to hit his stride as a professional pitcher, and he seems to be showing no sign of slowing down.