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For at least two nights, beginning with the hours immediately after he flirted with history last Saturday, Clarke Schmidt thought about the what-ifs. 

What if he hadn’t walked two Orioles hitters in the first inning? What if he didn’t need 27 pitches to record the first three outs before needing just 76 for the 18 that followed? What if, instead of needing to get pulled after seven hitless innings due to his pitch count, he could’ve had a chance to go all nine? 

“You take away that,” Schmidt said Friday of the pitch count, “then there’s possibly a different story.” 

Eventually, those thoughts subsided. He’ll start again Saturday when the Yankees and A’s continue their series in The Bronx, and he has tried to ignore what happened in his previous outing — instead trying to build on the 2.84 ERA he collected through his first 12 starts of 2025. Schmidt has surrendered just three runs across his last five starts (0.84 ERA) and earned the label as “one of the most underrated pitchers in the game” from manager Aaron Boone.