The New York Yankees will be playing the second game of their best-of-five AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals on Monday. However, they also have their eyes on Game 3 and the rest of the series.
With that in mind, Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced the starter for the third game of the series, to be played on Wednesday at 7:08 pm ET in Kauffman Stadium.
Aaron Boone has decided on the Yankees’ starter for Game 3 of the ALDS
“Aaron Boone said Clarke Schmidt will start Game 3. He feels like he’s the right pitcher for the job,” Yankees insider Chris Kirschner wrote on his official X account.
The expectation to this point was that Luis Gil was going to take the ball in Kansas City against Seth Lugo. However, the Yankees skipper is going with Schmidt, who finished the regular season with a 2.85 ERA in 85.1 frames after overcoming a right lat strain. Gil, therefore, will become available in relief for the rest of the series should the Yankees need him, and that might include Game 2 on Monday night.
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Schmidt gives the Yankees a good chance to win
Schmidt didn’t pitch against the Royals this season, whereas Gil faced them on September 11. Perhaps the fact that Kansas had a recent look at Gil’s stuff was one of the factors behind the decision to send Schmidt for Game 3.
Both are, without a doubt, prepared for the assignment and more than deserving. With the schedule allowing the Yankees to use three starters, however, it was one or the other, not both, starting games in this round.
Schmidt will try to improve a horrible 11.57 ERA in three postseason games in his career. In any case, he will be pitching an important game — a game that could give the Yankees their ticket to the American League Championship Series, or it could help them regain advantage in the best-of-five matchup. It all depends on what happens on Monday night.
