Chad Holbrook sat across from Clarke Schmidt and delivered the worst news. The results came back from the MRI of Schmidt’s elbow, which revealed a complete tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. He would need Tommy John surgery. He would be sidelined for at least a year.

It was April 2017.

In two months, Schmidt, then a highly ranked junior starting pitcher at the University of South Carolina, hoped to be picked in the first round of the MLB Draft, guaranteeing him millions of dollars and a chance to fulfill his childhood dream of pitching in the United States. to achieve. majors.

But at that moment?

“Boy was crushed,” said Holbrook, then the head coach at South Carolina.

Except Schmidt’s head didn’t hang down for long. Holbrook recalled running into the then 21-year-old again less than an hour later in the team’s clubhouse.

The look on his face had changed. His eyes were dry.

“It’s okay,” Schmidt told Holbrook. “I’ll attack this thing and everything will be fine.”

Seven years later, Schmidt has proven his words that day time and time again, and he’ll look to do it again when he takes the mound for the New York Yankees against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. on Thursday.

Clarke Schmidt has been called up to start Game 3 on Thursday, where he can help give the Yankees a win away from the World Series. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

If the Yankees win, they’ll go 3-0 with one win between them and reach their first World Series since 2009. And it will likely mean Schmidt played a major role, further increasing the confidence the Yankees had in the roster further confirmed. he placed 16th overall, handing him a $2,184,300 bonus, although there was no guarantee he would regain the form he had in college before Tommy John.

Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ director of amateur scouting, said the Yankees understood the risk they were taking by investing a high draft pick in an injured player. But Schmidt’s character convinced them.

The Yankees started scouting Schmidt when he was in high school in Georgia and saw a jump in his abilities in his sophomore year. The better they got to know him, the more they liked him. Schmidt seemed to come from a supportive family: his father, Dwight, was a pilot in the Marines. His older brother, Clate, who played at Clemson and in the minor leagues, beat cancer. The Yankees’ mental skills coach placed a high rating on his character: “Elite,” Oppenheimer said.

“(Schmidt) was very positive,” Oppenheimer added. “That was what stood out. Knowing what we had before the operation, and knowing man, what we could do, you just knew that this man would do all the work it takes for a man to come back from something like this – and he would still get better.

“It was his mentality (and) the way he spoke to you. He was kind of a man’s man when he talked to you.

Holbrook saw it too. He coached several pitchers who reached the major leagues and even pitched for the Yankees, including Andrew Miller, Jordan Montgomery and Adam Warren. While many Division I players have great talent, work ethic can be a divider, Holbrook said. Schmidt was talking about.

And he had guts. Holbrook’s favorite memory of Schmidt was watching him dominate Auburn in 2017. It was a Saturday, and the night before, Casey Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick of the Detroit Tigers, had defeated South Carolina. When Schmidt pitched the next day, he tore through Auburn, throwing eight scoreless innings and striking out ten batters. Schmidt wanted to prove that Mize wasn’t the only prospect he was excited about, Holbrook said.

“Maybe one of the best pitching performances I’ve ever seen from any of my pitchers and I’ve seen some good ones too,” said Holbrook, now the head coach at the College of Charleston.

Clarke Schmidt quickly emerged as one of college baseball’s best pitchers, thanks in part to his work ethic. (Tony Farlow / Four Seam Images via AP Images)

Oppenheimer recalled how Schmidt blew away Vanderbilt hitters with 11 strikeouts in seven innings that same season. After the game, Oppenheimer called a Vanderbilt coach and asked him what his hitters said about Schmidt.

“They said, ‘Oh, we couldn’t see the baseball,’” Oppenheimer recalls. “There was cheating. The fastball started working guys. They just couldn’t pick him up. That was one of those starts that made him think, ‘This guy is a good first-round pick.’ Then he was hit. After that it was a bit of luck for us.”

For Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Schmidt’s confidence was evident when he first got a good look at him. It was the summer of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic forced the Yankees to practice in the Bronx in July without fans in the stands before Opening Day three weeks later. Schmidt had not yet pitched in the Majors, but his abilities rivaled those of anyone on the Yankees’ pitching staff at the time.

“He had a presence and a swagger to him,” Boone said. “He’s never had that before.”

Last season, Schmidt established himself in the Yankees’ rotation, making 32 starts. This season he was one of the better starters in the Majors. Schmidt went 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA in his first 11 starts before a right lat put him on the IL for three months. When he returned, he went 0–2 with a 3.65 ERA in five starts, and the Yankees tapped him to start Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals on the road. They chose him over AL Rookie of the Year candidate Luis Gil because they had a feeling about Schmidt.

While Gil may have the best stuff in baseball, Schmidt just seemed ready to handle a hostile environment with so much at stake. It worked. The Yankees won and Schmidt lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up only two earned runs.

When Schmidt was asked what gives him the pride that Boone raves about, he pointed to his Christian faith. He then pointed to what Oppenheimer and Holbrook identified in him years ago: work ethic.

“I trust myself,” Schmidt said.

He said he can’t wait for a chance to keep his mouth shut about what is expected to be a rowdy Cleveland crowd on Thursday.

“Pitching on the road with the fans coming at your throat,” he said, “it’s kind of fun to shut them up whenever you need to get the job done.”

Not unlike how Schmidt silenced any doubts he had after learning he needed major surgery as he was about to start his MLB career.

“It was a crushing moment, but he handled it like a rock,” Holbrook said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

(Top photo of Schmidt pitching in ALDS: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)