On the mend from Tommy John, former Gamecock throws dominant game

Tommy John surgery knocked former South Carolina baseball star Clarke Schmidt off course.

Now in the New York Yankees minor league system, he appears back on track.

Schmidt, who missed the second half of his final season in Columbia because of the injury, threw five perfect innings in his Class-A debut this season. He only threw in eight games last season, but struck out nine in his first start this year.

Schmidt was a first-round pick, 16th overall, by New York in 2017.

“He was actually better than his line,” Yankees minor league pitching coordinator Danny Borrell told the New York Post. “He topped out at 95-96 [MPH] with a great curve and changeup and threw a lot of strikes. He was as good as advertised.”

A third-team All-American in 2016, Schmidt was an ace-level pitcher for the Gamecocks. As a sophomore, he struck out 129 in 111 innings, going 9-5. As a junior, he went 4-2 with a 1.34 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings before the elbow injury.

Schmidt’s last college start was April 20, 2017. He didn’t pitch again until late June of 2018.

This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 5:16 PM.