RADIO
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 350
CURRENT ADP: ~380 overall
ANALYSIS:
Two months ago, Schmidt was on nobody's radar because he was several steps away from getting a job in the Major League rotation. Since then, Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon have hit the IL, opening up two spots in the Yankees rotation. The team's lack of depth after a couple of trades last year has pushed Schmidt into the rotation, and to his credit, he certainly looks up to the task. The most important thing to note here is Schmidt's minor league numbers over the last two seasons:
| GS | IP | K% | BB% | ERA | WHIP | HR/9 |
| 16 | 68 | 30.2% | 7.3% | 2.91 | 1.15 | 0.93 |
What we want from pitchers is a K-BB% above 20%, and Schmidt checks that box.
His Major League performance last year was lackluster (22.6% K%, 10.2% BB% in 64 innings), so that's a big reason for pause. There is reason to believe he can improve on that in a hurry because what he's done this year is add a cutter that has made him look awesome in spring. He's fired off 11.2 innings this spring and has struck out 17 batters while walking only one. All of the reports are that his cutter looks legit, and he has a pretty great slider backing it up (19% SwStr% in the Majors last year). I'm a big fan of giving Schmidt a shot early on in the year, although he's not someone you need to hold on to if he struggles early on.
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