This Yankee Took Big Step Forward

The New York Yankees haven’t met overall expectation this season, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t individual player to build around for the 2024 season.

With the Yankees entering the final two weeks of their season on Friday, there’s an opportunity to take stock of those players that have made the most progress during the 2023 season.

That’s what MLB.com did on Thursday, as they analyzed one player for each team that took a big step forward this season.

That player, for the Yankees at least, was pitcher Clarke Schmidt.

Per MLB.com:

Schmidt has been one of the few Yankees to outperform expectations this year, having rounded into form as a reliable big league starter. After a bumpy beginning, Schmidt found his groove in late May, going 8-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) after May 19. He has already hit a career high in innings pitched (140 2/3), and Schmidt’s 23 starts with three or fewer runs allowed are tied for the third-most in the AL.

The Yankees took Schmidt in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of South Carolina and it took him a couple of full minor-league seasons to get his shot with the Yankees.

Schmidt made his debut in 2020, but he only made five appearances with the Yankees in 2020 and 2021. Last season he emerged as a bullpen option, making 29 appearances, with three starts, and finishing with a 5-5 record and a 3.12 ERA.

This is his first full season as a starter, and with a significant injury to Carlos Rodón that put him on the shelf for months, Clarke has been quite the stabilizing force on the Yankee’s pitching staff.