As Clarke Schmidt began to warm up for his final start of the regular season on Yankee Stadium’s soggy outfield grass on Sunday, he had an unusual experience.
“That was probably the first time I started to go out to warm up for a game and the opposing pitcher’s coming up to me in the outfield wondering what we’re doing,” Schmidt said. “We were just very surprised that we were trying to grind that one out. We have playoffs coming up, and it’s just a high injury risk.”
Schmidt was referring to the “brutal” conditions the Yankees and Pirates played in on Sunday. The rain-delayed regular season finale, a 6-4 win for the Yankees, saw coaches and players fall, two throwing errors and multiple stoppages so that the grounds crew could tend to the soaked field.
Schmidt said that he couldn’t find the mound or get traction with his cleats at times. The rosin bags kept getting wet, which made gripping the baseball harder. Schmidt added that he held back a bit while logging four innings of work.
While Schmidt and everyone else came away from the game healthy, he surrendered four earned runs, walked four and struck out five in his final start of the year.
Luis Gil made his final start under similar circumstances on Saturday. He gave up six earned runs and four homers, walked one and struck out five over 5.2 innings in a losing effort.
With the right-handed Gil and Schmidt both candidates to start in the ALDS – Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are already locked into the rotation – Aaron Boone made note of the poor weather after both weekend games. With the elements having an adverse effect on both pitchers, it doesn’t sound like either will be dinged for their final starts.
“Today did nothing to negate anything for me one way or another,” Boone said Sunday.
Their last outings aside, Gil and Schmidt are coming off strong seasons.
Schmidt’s was shorter thanks to a lat injury, but he led the Yankees’ rotation with a 2.85 ERA over 16 starts. He was extremely consistent, as Sunday was the first time he allowed more than three earned runs in a game all season.
Gil, meanwhile, forced his way into the Yankees’ rotation after Cole came down with a case of elbow inflammation in spring training. Gil made 29 starts, won 15 games and recorded a 3.50 ERA in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
He is a strong contender for the American League’s Rookie of the Year Award.
“It would be a blessing,” Gil said Saturday, though he’s more focused on the playoffs. “I come from a small town. So it would mean a lot to me and for my people back home and for us as an organization.”
On Saturday, Boone noted that Gil “held up well” and “blew past probably all of our expectations.” Does that mean he’s going to get the ball when the Yankees play the Orioles or Royals in the ALDS?
With some of the game’s best power stuff and workload concerns a topic of conversation, Gil has been pegged as an eventual candidate for the bullpen all year. However, he has never been a big league reliever, and his 12.1 BB% led all starters with at least 150 innings pitched this season.
Given Gil’s iffy command but potential to be dominant, the Yankees might be better off starting him. They could keep the 26-year-old on a short leash and have Schmidt ready to go in case of emergency.
Schmidt has been the more predictable pitcher over a smaller sample, making him a worthy choice to start. But he’s also pitched out of the bullpen before, as he worked as a reliever in 2022. The 28-year-old even has experience entering games mid-inning and with runners on base, which could make him a good insurance policy for an erratic Gil.
“We’re just ultimately trying to make the best decision [on] who we think gives us the best chance in a given situation, in a given start, against a given opponent, whatever it may be,” Boone said. “I feel like it’s a good decision we have in front of us because both guys are very capable. So we’ll kind of hash it out and talk through it and try and do what’s best for the club.”
For what it’s worth, Schmidt is ready for whatever the Yankees throw at him.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said of his ALDS role. “I’m trying to win a World Series, so whatever it takes.”
