Schmidt Seeks Repeat Dominance Against Athletics
Following a near no-hitter, Clarke Schmidt of the New York Yankees looks to continue his impressive performance against the visiting Oakland Athletics on Saturday. The young right-hander aims to build on his recent dominant outing, providing a fascinating test of his evolving skills on the mound.
Schmidt’s Recent Performance
A week prior, Schmidt was almost untouchable, pitching seven scoreless innings, with only a rising pitch count hindering him. Now, the Yankees are keen to observe how the right-hander follows up on his near-historic performance when he faces the Athletics on Saturday afternoon.
“Just treat it like the last one, I think,” Schmidt said of facing the A’s. “I think it’s easy to buy into the, ‘Oh, I just threw really well and I’m throwing the ball well.’ You can kind of feed into your own success a little bit.”
—Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees Pitcher
The Yankees’ pitching staff has maintained a major-league-best 3.18 ERA over the past 58 games. Moreover, the team secured their ninth shutout in a 3-0 victory during the series opener on Friday. A recent analysis shows that pitchers who throw a high number of pitches in their previous start often show decreased effectiveness in their next outing, suggesting a potential challenge for Schmidt.
Schmidt’s Strategy and Stats
Schmidt, who is 4-3 with a 2.84 ERA, is pitching with two extra days of rest after throwing 103 pitches in a 9-0 win against the Baltimore Orioles on June 21. Despite not allowing any hits and issuing just two walks, his outing was limited to seven innings due to a lengthy first and final inning.
The dominant seven innings gave him a career-high 25 1/3-inning scoreless streak. This places him among the top three longest by a Yankee since 1961, behind Catfish Hunter and Gerrit Cole.
“Last year and the previous years I just have so much better feel of what I’m trying to do out there and I’m immersing myself more in the chess game of baseball and pitch selection and stuff like that rather than here’s my best stuff, see-what-you-can-do mentality, and I think that has really benefited me,” Schmidt said.
—Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees Pitcher
Athletics’ Perspective
The Athletics will counter with JP Sears, who holds a 5-7 record with a 5.44 ERA. Sears has struggled recently, going 1-5 with an 8.75 ERA in his past eight starts and allowing 13 home runs. He last pitched in a 3-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings.
Sears is 0-4 with a 5.74 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees, who previously traded him to the A’s. The A’s are striving to avoid being shut out for the third consecutive game, having managed only three hits in their last two contests. Rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson is currently in a slump, striking out twice and going 0-for-4 on Friday, but still boasts a .341 batting average.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay observed that Wilson’s “bat-to-ball skills have always been there.” This season, the league’s average batting average is .248 (MLB Stats).
The upcoming matchup between Schmidt and Sears presents an interesting contrast, setting the stage for an engaging game for fans to watch.
