Clarke Schmidt used trial and error to figure out where and when to use his cutter, and it’s starting to pay dividends.
BOSTON — Clarke Schmidt’s early season turnaround is a story of persistence — the Yankees sticking with the right-hander and his own faith in his cutter.Getting his first extended run in the big league rotation due in large part to injuries elsewhere, Schmidt endured a rough first month of the season, in which left-handed hitters crushed his cutter, a pitch that he developed over the offseason to help him face that side of the plate.
The Yankees had encouraged Schmidt to incorporate the cutter into his repertoire to help attack left-handed hitters, who gave him trouble last season.But in Schmidt’s first nine starts, lefties hit .369 with a 1.105 OPS and five home runs against him. In five starts since then, with Schmidt gaining a better understanding of how to use the cutter and throwing it even more, lefties have hit .205 with a .521 OPS and zero home runs against him.“It’s huge,” Schmidt said. “Before it was like, we were kind of treading water a little bit when we were facing some of these lefties and we’d face lineups with seven or eight lefties.
“We don’t want to fail here; obviously no one does,” Cole said. “We got a bit of an uphill battle for the division too, so every game is always critically important. So it makes going through struggles while you’re trying to get your footing and everything that he’s trying to do early especially challenging. But I think he’s handled it really well and I think that’s why you’re seeing him start to improve the more and more he takes the ball.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Eric Schmidt buys abandoned Alfa Nero superyacht for $67.6 millionThe 267-foot vessel, complete with a baby grand piano and a swimming pool that turns into a helipad, was abandoned in Antigua.
Read more »
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt wins Russian oligarch’s superyacht for $67.6M at auctionSchmidt bought the 267ft-Alfa Nero yacht that was abandoned in Antigua by Andrey Guryev, the Russian billionaire who was slapped with sanctions.
Read more »
Domingo German shelled by Red Sox as Yankees’ rough stretch continuesThe Yankees (39-31) have now lost six of their last nine games.
Read more »
Turner homers twice, including grand slam, to help Red Sox rout rival YankeesThe Yankees were credited with just two errors but were out of sorts defensively throughout.
Read more »
Yankees undone by sloppy defense in ugly loss to Red SoxJustin Turner pulverized the Yankees for two home runs and six RBIs, but their defensive play also was a disaster in an ugly 15-5 loss to the Red Sox.
Read more »