Pinstripe Alley Jun 3, 2023
Clarke Schmidt’s cutter is finally rounding into form
Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports He struggled with the new pitch in April, but did what quality pitchers do and made the adjustment in May. In April, Clarke Schmidt was in search mode, developing a new pitch on the fly and experiencing all the growing pains inherent in that endeavor. Though the results were ugly and Yankees fans clamored for better, he didn’t panic, instead making significant adjustments to his usage of the cutter and tweaking the shape until he found something that worked in the month of May. April also had some inherent flukiness to it. His...
Pinstripe Alley Jun 1, 2023
Yankees 0, Mariners 1: No runs to be found in walk-off loss
Photo by Steph Chambers/ The Yankees wasted a fine outing from Clarke Schmidt in the final game of the series against Seattle. I guess you can’t win them all. But on a night when Clarke Schmidt, and then the bullpen, held Seattle scoreless through nine, an offense that dropped an Alexander Hamilton on the Mariners each of the previous two nights should have scraped together a run or two. Alas. George Kirby and the M’s were up to the challenge this evening, and they scrapped out a 1-0 win in extras. Kirby made short of the Yankees in the first. Gleyber Torres, Aaron...
Pinstripe Alley May 31, 2023
NYY @ SEA: Clarke Schmidt vs. George Kirby
Photo by Dylan Buell/ The Yankees try to sweep Seattle before heading to Los Angeles this weekend. After taking the first two games of this three-game set in Seattle, both in convincing fashion, New York goes for the trifecta tonight. A win moves the Bronx Bombers to a season-high 12 games above .500 and sends them to the Thursday offday riding high, before going to LA this weekend to face the Dodgers (where all of Giancarlo Stanton, JOsh Donaldson, and Tommy Kahnle seem ready to join them). Clarke Schmidt takes the ball for the Yankees tonight. Thus far in 2023,...
Pinstripe Alley May 25, 2023
Yankees 1, Orioles 3: The Kyle Gibson Show, for some reason
Photo by Jim McIsaac/ Gibson and the O’s pitching staff stifled the Yankees to snatch victory in this three-game set in the Bronx. Well, that was no fun. In a game that many would have pegged as most likely to be a shootout, a pitchers’ duel erupted. Kyle Gibson and Clarke Schmidt both spun impressive outings, but it was Gibson who came out with seven scoreless inning and the win, as the Baltimore Orioles took the away series from the New York Yankees with a decisive 3-1 victory in the Bronx. In the game thread, I wrote that Gibson was the type of pitcher that the...
Pinstripe Alley May 25, 2023
NYY vs. BAL: Clarke Schmidt vs. Kyle Gibson
Photo by New York Yankees/ The Yankees seek a series victory in their three-game set with the Orioles tonight. For eight total innings yesterday, things were good for the Bronx Bombers: Nestor Cortes was dealing, Gleyber Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa lit up Baltimore pitching, and across those frames, they may have come away with a dominant 5-1 victory that set them up for the sweep. Unfortunately, Major League Baseball rules do not allow us to ignore the seventh inning, and because of this, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles will instead face off in the rubber...
Pinstripe Alley May 25, 2023
Today on Pinstripe Alley - 5/25/23
Photo by Sarah Stier/ The Yankees try to pick up the pieces after a squandered opportunity to take the series against the O’s. Can’t say that I endorse watching my favorite team give up eight runs in the seventh inning of a game that they seemingly had in hand! For as thrilling as Tuesday night was, Wednesday was just about as deflating. It’s rare to see the Yankees fall apart in such a catastrophic matter. There’s nothing else to do but to brush it off and find a way to take the series today. Clarke Schmidt will have to face the O’s, but Kyle Gibson isn’t...
Pinstripe Alley May 19, 2023
Yankees 6, Reds 2: Schmidt strong, backed by Judge and Rizzo
Photo by Dylan Buell/ Yankees take the opener in Cincinnati, 6-2. The Yankees experienced a nice change of pace from the pressure cooker that were both the series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, and on the road, in Toronto, and the ballclub took advantage of it. They led from the first all the way to the ninth, and taking the opener in Cincinnati, 5-2. The recipe of Great American Ball Park and a struggling pitcher in Clarke Schmidt against a veteran journeyman (Ben Lively) making his first start of the year fed a particular narrative. However, if anything, this was...
Cincinnati.com May 19, 2023
Reds' David Bell ejected after Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt 'sticky stuff' inspection
Reds manager David Bell was ejected after Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt was allowed to wash a potential foreign substance off his hand.
Pinstripe Alley May 19, 2023
NYY @ CIN: Clarke Schmidt vs. Ben Lively
Photo by Ron Jenkins/ The Yankees open up a weekend series in Cincinnati with the Reds, their first in the Queen City since 2017. The New York Yankees have departed Toronto to travel to Ohio for a three-game set with the 19-24 Cincinnati Reds. The Bombers are coming off a very productive couple series against the Blue Jays and Rays, which saw the Yankees go 5-3, across eight games. Clarke Schmidt will take the ball for the series opener, looking to bounce back from his disastrous outing against the Rays last weekend, which saw the right-hander cough up seven earned runs...
Pinstripe Alley May 16, 2023
VOTE: When will Rodón make his Yankees debut?
And who should get the boot from the rotation when Luis Severino returns? Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in New York Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Remember back in February when there seemed to be a collective sentiment of mild disappointment that the promising Clarke Schmidt wouldn’t get a chance in the Yankees’ rotation? After all, they had ace Gerrit Cole, fellow 2022 All-Star Nestor Cortes, free...
Pinstripe Alley May 9, 2023
Yankees 10, A’s 5: Diaz demolition denied
After hitting three homers, Jordan Díaz could only watch (as he did in this April 29 game) as the A’s fell once again. | Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/ No one Yankee put up a line like the A’s second baseman, but the Bombers as a whole overcame his contributions. The Yankees continued their reset series against the MLB-worst Oakland A’s with another dominant win, scoring in bunches once again. They benefitted from some Oakland follies, sure, but Gleyber Torres and Jake Bauers showed some renewed pop while Clarke Schmidt went six innings for the first time in his...
Pinstripe Alley May 9, 2023
NYY vs. OAK: Clarke Schmidt vs. Drew Rucinski
Aaron Judge in the dugout on Sunday. He’ll take the field tonight for the first time since April 27. | Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Schmidt looks to continue improving against a weak Oakland A’s lineup and the captain makes his return. After dropping the rubber match of a tough series against the Rays in St. Petersburg this weekend, the Yankees returned home to face the lowly A’s in need of a reset before taking on their divisional rivals again later this week. Game one against the AL West cellar-dwellers last night certainly served that purpose, with...
Pinstripe Alley May 8, 2023
Yankees Sequence of the Week: The struggles of Clarke Schmidt
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Spotty control and predictable sequencing are killing the 27-year-old. Clarke Schmidt starts tonight for the eighth time in 2023. His struggles in those first seven starts have been well-chronicled by now, including by yours truly a couple weeks ago. Tonight, he’ll try to make it through six innings — and keep the other team off the scoreboard — for the first time this year, following a shaky outing in which he limited Cleveland’s damage to two runs in 4.1 innings. A closer look at how some of those runs came to be illustrates a lot...
