Clarke Schmidt ready for first career playoff start

KANSAS CITY — A forgotten man when he missed over three months in the middle of the season with a severe right lat strain, Clarke Schmidt is suddenly in the spotlight as he gets ready to pitch the most important game of the season for the Yankees to date.

With this best-of-five American League Division Series between New York and Kansas City tied at one heading into Wednesday’s Game 3 at what is sure to be a rowdy Kauffman Stadium, Yankees manager Aaron Boone has entrusted Schmidt to quiet the crowd by keeping the Royals’ lineup in check.

“Very honored, very excited,” said Schmidt. “It’s a great opportunity. But trying to win a ballgame, so really focused and really in control of my emotions, not trying to get too high on it, and just go out there and do my job.”

It is a big swing game in this series, and a job that might have been entrusted to Nestor Cortes had the lefty not been on the shelf for this series due to a flexor strain in his elbow.

It was down to either Schmidt or AL Rookie of the Year candidate Luis Gil.

Some were surprised that Schmidt got the call over a man who has been a mainstay in the rotation all season, but experience matters, and after watching Schmidt’s evolution over the last few years, Boone is convinced he is ready for this moment.

“I feel like he loves pitching and loves all that goes with that, so the physical preparation, in the weight room, the pitch design things that they’re able to do and what you can learn, all the way to the game playing,” said Boone. “He loves everything about pitching, and he’s just super competitive.”

The decision to go with Schmidt in such a big spot had as much to do with his intangibles as his stuff.

“Clarke is fully cut out to handle that,” Boone said. “I know he will be prepared. He will walk out there with confidence and with an expectation to deliver, and he’s got the equipment to deliver. I’m excited to go see him do his thing. I don’t worry about him and all the noise that comes with a best-of-five series and it’s Game 3 and we’re tied on the road. I know he’s fully equipped to deal with all that.”

When he was healthy, Schmidt was effective this season, going 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA across 16 starts and 85 1/3 innings.

The 28-year-old righty just about always keeps the Yankees in the game. With the exception of his final start of the regular season, when he gave up four runs to the Pirates, Schmidt allowed three earned runs or less in all of his starts. He gave up two earned runs or less in 11 of those 16 starts.

Meanwhile, Gil showed signs of rookie fatigue in his final start of the regular season, giving up six earned runs — including four home runs — over 5 2/3 innings at home against the Pirates.

The circumstances have all aligned for Schmidt to make his first career postseason start. It’s an opportunity he doesn’t take lightly, and one that seemed unlikely at midseason given his long battle to get healthy.

“This is every kid’s dream to be able to start a playoff game for the New York Yankees, and to be able to have this opportunity is something that I don’t take lightly,” said Schmidt. “I’m very much looking forward to it and kind of trying to seize the moment.”

While Schmidt will try to pen a signature Yankee moment of his own, he recently drew some high praise from someone who had many of them in five-time World Series champ Andy Pettitte.

“We’ve formed a really good relationship over the years,” said Schmidt. “He’s helped me immensely as far as mentality, pitch selection, how you’re trying to get guys out, sequencing. I’ve probably watched all of his playoff starts over the course of the season, just going back and in my downtime I’ll spend a lot of time just watching playoff starts of his. I’m really thankful to have him as a mentor.”

Schmidt will try to channel his inner Pettitte while trying to give his team a lead in the series at the same time.

“Going into a hostile environment, it should be a lot of fun,” said Schmidt. “Going to their place, we’ll be ready to play. It should be a fun environment. We’ll be looking to come out right out of the gates and come away with a win.”