Andy Pettitte on Clarke Schmidt's Game 3 start for Yankees: 'He's ready for the moment'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees couldn’t have done much better when it comes to who they’re sending to the mound for Wednesday’s critical Game 3 of the ALDS than Clarke Schmidt.

Sure, Clarke Schmidt has exactly zero playoff starts in his career, but the majors’ all-time leader in postseason victories gave an emphatic endorsement of the 28-year-old.

“I think he’s ready for it, ready for the moment,” Andy Pettitte, who has 19 career postseason wins, told Newsday coming off the field at the Stadium after batting practice Monday before the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Royals in Game 2 that evened the best-of-five series at one game apiece. “He’s taken his game to the next level this year as far as command-wise, everything. Preparation. Just everything that comes with the game and just maturing as a big-league pitcher. His stuff’s elite, it really is. Top notch. I love his stuff.”

Pettitte, who went 256-153 with a 3.85 ERA in his 18-year career, including 219-127 with a 3.94 ERA with the Yankees in two different stints, has periodically lent his time to the club in various capacities since retiring after the 2013 season. The 52-year-old Pettitte, currently a team adviser, in previous years visited the club’s minor-league affiliates, observing and talking with many of the minor-leaguers along the way.

In was in that capacity he first came across Schmidt, a first-round draft pick in 2017 (taken 16th overall) who started his climb through the minors in 2018 in Tampa with the rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees and who, by 2019, was with Double-A Trenton.

“First of all, I’ve always been a fan of Clarke,” Pettitte said. “Got to see him when he first came up with us in the minor leagues when I was traveling to our minor-league systems. Mostly a sinkerball pitcher; had a great breaking ball when we got him. What I love is just his competitive nature. He wants the ball, he wants to compete, and it’s been amazing to just watch how he’s kind of come into his own.”

Schmidt, who since the day he was drafted has expressed a desire to be a big-league starter, didn’t get to do that consistently at the outset of his career, filling mostly relief roles since debuting Sept. 4, 2020. But he at last made the rotation full-time last season and flashed far more good than not in going 9-9 with a 4.64 ERA in 32 starts. At the time of the lat strain in late May that cost Schmidt three months of this season, he was among the best pitchers in the league at 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA.

And the common thread through all of those experiences has been an unwavering confidence in himself, an outward confidence that for years now has both amused and impressed his teammates.

Pettitte, too.

“He carries himself [with confidence], he’s not scared of the moment and if he fails, he’s like, ‘Give me the ball again.’ And you absolutely love that,” Pettitte said, drawing out the word “absolutely” for emphasis. “You’re not going to run him out of the strike zone, I love that. So he’s really, for me, what you look for in a big-league starter.”

Pettitte did not hesitate in answering what, in his mind, has most allowed Schmidt to become that.

“His breaking stuff. He spins it. When you have somebody who can spin it like that, they’re probably going to have success, and he can really spin it,” Pettitte said. “He’s got as good breaking stuff as I’ve seen in the league. And he’s got command of his fastball, his four-seam, his cutter. He’s become a complete pitcher.”

Schmidt, asked about Pettitte, whom he called an “idol” while growing up and now “a mentor,” during a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon, practically gushed discussing the lefthander.

“We’ve kind of formed a really good relationship over the years,” Schmidt said. “He’s helped me immensely as far as mentality, pitch selection, how you’re trying to get guys out, pitch sequencing. There’s so many things . . . Everybody knows that look he had when the playoffs were on, somebody who turned it on when it mattered the most. I kind of want to have that same kind of legacy, and I think, what better person to learn from than him? Really thankful to have him as a mentor for myself.”