The New York Yankees are missing Gerrit Cole’s services during the ongoing season. The reigning AL Cy Young winner will have to miss another one to two months of game time owing to a right elbow injury. Although, the NY side started the 2024 season really well. After more than 30 years, the Bronx Bombers won their first five games of a season. Who could have thought it was possible after the disaster last year? But the 27-time champions will need the ace pitcher to return soon as the starting lineup looks still shaky.
In the last game, the Arizona Diamondbacks broke the five-game winning streak of the Yankees. Moreover, the Pinstripes lost 0-7. Clearly, the offense struggled, but the pitchers did not do a great job either. It must be another wake-up call for the NY side. Among the starting pitchers, Marcus Stroman and Clarke Schmidt have been impressive. As long as Cole stays out, the Yankees Faithful will look up to Stroman and Schmidt to do a great job. However, the Bronx Bombers will be keen to see Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon improve greatly. Lately, Schmidt revealed Cole helped him improve his pitching.
How Gerrit Cole Has Helped Clarke Schmidt In This Tough Season?
In 2023, the Yankees struggled in general as a whole team. But Gerrit Cole had his career-best season, earning him a Cy Young Award. Besides the Yankees ace pitcher, if there was any other hurler who had a good time last season wearing the pinstripe uniform, that was Clarke Schmidt. Moreover, Clarke is a fast-rising pitching sensation of the NY side. Schmidt had a breakthrough season in 2023. It really catapulted him to the starting rotation. Recently, in an interview with the New York Post, Clarke talked about what he did differently last year to have such a great change.
Moreover, Schmidt mentioned that he learned the most mentally last year, even more than he had in his entire career. There were a lot of times when his body almost made him quit. But then, Gerrit Cole came to his rescue. The Yankees ace pitcher advised his fellow starting pitcher to “Push through it.” Moreover, Clarke told the Post that Cole was a big motivating factor for him. Cole told Schmidt, “All you need to do is just callous your body.” Adding to that, Cole advised Schmidt to push through whatever he was dealing with at the end of the year and whatever he was feeling. According to Schmidt, those words worked as fuel for him.
Schmidt Impressed The 2023 AL Cy Young Winner
Taking Cole’s inspiring words as his guide, Clarke pushed through his struggles and stood on the mound as frequently as he could. That determination really impressed Gerrit Cole. Moreover, the ace said Schmidt can have a “Real impact” on the Yankees in the coming years. Cole also used his life experience to motivate his fellow starter.
Gerrit mentioned it is essential to be out in the ballpark as much as possible despite technological advancements. The game gets slower as the players are out there. Hence, as per Cole, nothing can really replace the value of the experience of being out there. With that experience, Cole said Schmidt can maximize his performance.
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