Yankees: Clarke Schmidt destroys brother’s hand with two-seamer again

New York Yankees top prospect Clarke Schmidt is back in the habit of wrecking his brother’s hand.

At a certain point, all brothers of professional athletes simply must age out of being their sibling’s practice partner. It is the Brothers Code. It’s just too dangerous out there for the brothers.

But thanks to the Instagram story of the man himself, it’s clear this holiday season has signaled a return to bygone practices for Yankees rookie Clarke Schmidt, who’s reignited the childhood tradition of bullying his bro with fastballs.

Schmidt showed off his stuff all spring long in 2020, earning a look in the rotation in the eyes of most observers — in fact, the majority of us were quite depressed when it seemed he’d be demoted, then a lot more depressed when the season got freaking cancelled.

In order to stay in shape this holiday season ahead of a huge 2021 in which he might open the campaign in the starting five, Schmidt is officially trying out his dancing fastballs on his brother’s unprepared mitt back home in Georgia, and it’s not going well.

Brutal. The man’s hand simply does not have the necessary callouses. Worse than getting coal in a stocking.

You may remember Schmidt doing the same activity back in April when the 2020 campaign was abruptly paused, staying fresh by ripping the ball at his relatives.

Rumor had it at the time that Schmidt broke his brother’s thumb with a particularly potent toss, but we were later led to believe that was just a joke. OK! It’s still real to me, dammit.

https://twitter.com/Kyle_Kondor/status/1247990665604186114?s=20

Schmidt flashed the same pitching prowess in his limited big league cameo in 2020, though his career began with a high-leverage relief appearance instead of a start for some reason.

Though we’d like the Yankees to add veteran arms this offseason to bring insurance to the table, Schmidt will have every opportunity to play a major role in the 2021 rotation.

We hope he gets the spotlight, if for no other reason than to spare his brother’s palm more harm.

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