Things were looking bleak for the New York Yankees’ rotation at the start of the year. Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole needed season-ending Tommy John surgery. Luis Gil suffered a high-grade lat strain. And Clarke Schmidt experienced rotator cuff tendonitis. Both Gil and Schmidt would start the season on the injured list. While Gil remains sidelined, Schmidt was able to return to the Yankees in mid April.

Now in his sixth season with New York, Schmidt is practicing positive thinking to better prepare for his starts this year. Prior to an outing, the veteran righty works through his opponent's lineup in his head, contemplating how he’ll approach different hitters and how he’ll handle a jam, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

“I don’t think of it as manifestation, but I want to get to a place where you’re just able to see things in your mind where you can conceptualize what positive things can happen before you go out there,” Schmidt explained, per The Athletic.

Clarke Schmidt rounds into form for the Yankees

May 23, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt (36) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The visualization technique appears to be working. After a slow start, likely due to lingering effects from the injury he suffered in spring training, Schmidt has looked sharper of late for the Yankees. The 29-year-old hurler has four quality starts in his last six outings.

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On the season, Schmidt is 2-3 with a 4.04 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 9.2 K/9 and 100 ERA+. But he’s shown signs of returning to his 2024 form. Last season Schmidt posted a 2.85 ERA, 1.184 WHIP, 9.8 K/9 and a strong ERA+ of 143 in 16 starts for the Yankees.

Schmidt will start Game 2 of New York’s three-game series against the Royals in Kansas City. In the opener, the Bombers jumped all over Royals starter Noah Cameron, touching him up for six runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings. Aaron Judge mashed a monster 469-foot home run in the first inning and the rout was on.

New York was up 3-1 in the fourth and that was enough for de facto ace Max Fried to pick up his MLB-leading ninth win of the season. The Yankees cruised to the victory in a 10-2 blowout.

The win snapped a two-game skid for New York as the team lost its series against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees are 40-25 entering play on Wednesday. They hold a four game lead over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.