South Carolina baseball alum Clarke Schmidt has been one of the most consistent pitchers in all of Major League Baseball since the start of the 2023 campaign. The right-handed New York Yankee is 2nd in the league in total starts with 3 runs allowed or fewer during that time (including all nine of his tries this year), and he is putting up career-best numbers so far in the early goings of the 2024 season.
Speaking of career-best numbers, when Schmidt took the mound on Thursday afternoon, he delivered the best outing of his professional career against the Minnesota Twins. In fact, the former All-SEC hurler was utterly dominant for the Yankees in his team's win over Cal State-Northridge alum Joe Ryan at Minneapolis' Target Field.
For the game, Schmidt did not surrender any runs, went 8 innings (a career-high), struck out 8 batters (tying a career-high), and gave up just 3 hits (the lowest number in his career in a start). He also surrendered 0 walks. The lone blemish on his day was a throwing error, but it did not come back to haunt the Yankees. With 3 runs in the 1st inning, New York gave Schmidt more than enough support in what became a 5-0 victory on the road.
The victory was Schmidt's third win in a row and his second-straight start without allowing a run. Schmidt's win pushed the Yankees record to 30-15, easily the best record in the American League and the second-best record in Major League Baseball.
If things go well for Schmidt the rest of the way this season, he could be in line for his first All-Star Game selection later on this summer.
Clarke's next scheduled start for the Yankees will be back in New York next week against the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners.