Clarke Schmidt Will Try To Win 2 In a Row For the New York Yankees

Schmidt will try to win a second game in a row for the New York Yankees, but he has his work cut out for him with a start against the Royals’ nominal ace Kris Bubic. Schmidt has been inconsistent for the Yankees but does benefit from an extra day off. Yankees fans hope that will benefit Schmidt.

However, there is a large sample size with him now. The fear is that he will never be more than a mediocre pitcher. He seems to repeatedly draw difficult pitching matchups. That is certainly the case in this second game in Kansas City. Do you think Schmidt will ever be a good pitcher for the Yankees?

Schmidt Has Extra Rest and a Difficult Matchup.

With the off-day Monday, Schmidt has an extra day of rest. The Yankees decided to leapfrog ace Max Fried over him, meaning that Schmidt is slated to start Wednesday on six days’ rest. He will oppose Bubic, who has very good statistics this season for the Royals. He has had a bit of a career resurgence this season. Yankee fans hope Schmidt will do the same.

In his last game, he allowed three Cleveland runs on seven hits, though he did strike out eight in 5.2 innings. Schmidt is twenty-nine years old, and he has a 99 ERA+ (100 is average). He is mediocre, and after a breakout 2024, Schmidt has been just middling this season. A leading factor has been the return of an old bugaboo he seemingly ironed out last year. While the right-hander is holding his fellow righties to a .561 OPS, almost 100 points better than in 2024, lefties, however, are hitting him around to a .820 OPS. That is a problem.

After a career marked somewhat by unfulfilled potential, Bubic pitched very well for the Kansas City Royals. The former first-rounder leads all of baseball with a 1.43 earned run average and has allowed just three home runs in a little over 75 innings pitched. Bubic’s changeup, which he throws more than 25 percent of the time against righties. That pitch has been completely neutralizing. Opponents are batting just .100 and are yet to record an extra-base hit off the pitch.

Will the Offensive Explosion Continue For the Yankees?

Maybe the only thing that can save Schmidt is another offensive explosion by the Yankees. The Yankees scored 10 runs in the game last night. It is unlikely they will do that against Bubic, but Austin Wells had 5 RBI, and Aaron Judge hit a 469-foot home run.

The Yankees have out-hit and outscored Kansas City in every meeting this season, but that run may end in this game. Their power numbers and bullpen depth give them an edge in this series, but this game does not line up well for them. Bubic is just too good. It seems the Yankees have Kansas City’s number this year. But that may not matter for the game between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals tonight.

Conclusion

This is a very difficult pitching matchup for the Yankees. They have to score runs early and get to the shaky Kansas City bullpen. That is unlikely, however, against Bubic. Fried’s performance did save the Yankees’ bullpen, as they used only two pitchers in the Tuesday game. The Yankees, however, do have a good chance to win on Wednesday.