Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt tapping into Marcus Stroman’s veteran savvy
JUPITER, Fla. — When Clarke Schmidt arrived at spring training this season, he kept on hearing a similar message from members of the Yankees’ front office.
The club had signed Marcus Stroman over the offseason and the right-hander had a similar pitch package to Schmidt’s, including a sinker — an offering no other member of the Yankees’ rotation threw.
“Make sure you’re [talking],” they told Schmidt.
It is not a coincidence that their lockers are right next to each other in the clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field, but Schmidt has heeded the front office’s advice and picked Stroman’s brain throughout the early stages of camp.
“It’s been awesome,” Stroman said Monday morning at Steinbrenner Field. “Clarke’s amazing. He’s a young kid who’s only wanting to learn. You can tell he has that fire, he has that dog in him, he has that hunger. His stuff is pretty elite. It’s only a matter of time before he puts it all together.”
Over the past two seasons, Schmidt has benefitted from the tutelage of Gerrit Cole, especially last year in his first full season as a starter.
And while that will continue this season, it doesn’t hurt to gain additional insight from another veteran who pitches with an arsenal like Schmidt’s.
So Schmidt made it a point from the beginning of spring training to develop that relationship with Stroman, who has been eager to help in return.
“Seemed like they hit it off right away,” manager Aaron Boone said before Schmidt tossed four scoreless innings in a 3-2 win over the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. “I know Marcus was real interested from the jump, watching his bullpens and seeing his arsenal a little bit.”
For the second straight offseason, Schmidt also made a tweak to his arsenal, changing the grip on his changeup — his least-used pitch last season that batters hit .429 against — to make it more of a split-changeup.
He went back and watched a slow-motion camera of Kevin Gausman throwing the pitch at Yankee Stadium to see his grip, started fiddling with it and has since incorporated it.
He threw five on Monday night and was pleased with the results.
“The combination of location and shape was probably the best it’s been,” said Schmidt, who allowed just one hit and entered only two two-ball counts all night. “It’s literally a completely new changeup. It’s kind of like a splitter shape, a little harder, a little more depth. I was really encouraged by the shapes tonight.”
Stroman also just so happens to throw a splitter, giving him and Schmidt another similarity in the pitch mixes.
Stroman leans more heavily on his sinker than Schmidt — throwing it 46.4 percent of the time last season compared to Schmidt’s 23.9 percent.
But Stroman’s other top pitches are his slurve and cutter, while Schmidt’s are his cutter and sweeper.
The Yankees weren’t looking for Schmidt to adapt any pitch grips from Stroman, but learn more about the right time to throw each pitch.
Schmidt was forced to learn some of that on the fly last season while taking his lumps with a 4.64 ERA across a career-high 32 starts.
“Kind of like mentality, what you’re looking for, where you’re setting your sights on [with] certain pitches, stuff like that,” Schmidt said. “Those small, minute details you can learn from veterans like that, and Gerrit and all these guys are the exact same way. He’s been very open, so I’ve been thankful for that.”
Stroman has been complimentary of Schmidt even before sharing a clubhouse with him. In his introductory video conference in January, Stroman called Schmidt “a guy with a ton of upside who’s got incredible stuff.”
Once they met, the 28-year-old Schmidt made the 33-year-old Stroman feel a little old when he told him he used to watch his highlight videos when Schmidt was in college at the University of South Carolina.
Now they are both important parts of the Yankees’ rotation, offering different looks from Cole, Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes — the three of them more fly-ball pitchers who throw four-seam fastballs — and collaborating on the art of the sinker.
“Anytime you have guys who have had success in the big leagues for a long time that have had longevity on their side, I have a lot of insight to give to the young guys,” Stroman said, “and Clarke only wants to learn.”
