Why He's Here: For the third season in a row, Schmidt was one of the Thunder's most valuable relievers. In between trips to Scranton, the side-arming righty put up fabulous numbers, including a 1.83 ERA, a scant 18 hits in 34 1/3 innings, and a nearly 4-to-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks. Basically, when he came in, the opponent was done for.

He didn't allow a run from May 20 until June 5, a stretch of 8 1/3 innings that saw him fan 13 hitters. He failed to record a strikeout in just two of his 24 appearances with the Thunder. 

Most Memorable Moment: Because he was so dominant, his most memorable moment was probably his only real failure. I had spent the early part of the afternoon covering Bryce Harper in Lakewood, and I had enough time when I got back to catch the last few innings of the Thunder's game with Binghamton.

The Thunder were ahead by one when I got there, and Schmidt had just cleaned up Pat Venditte's mess in the eighth. In the ninth, however, Schmidt cracked against the meager B-Mets' offense. Brahiam Maldonado reached him for a single, which Allan Dykstra followed with a home run over the right-field wall. The blast gave the B-Mets the lead, and eventually the win.

It also cost Carlos Silva his only chance for a Double-A win all year. Somewhere, he still weeps about this. Also notable from this game, Ray Kruml's first homer of the year and Jose Pirela's first double.

Outlook for 2012: Currently, Schmidt is unemployed. Given his status in the organization and Triple-A's predicament for this season, I'd be shocked if he re-signed with the Yankees.