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06/15/2009 10:33 PM ET
Schmidt making up for lost time
Former first-rounder's scoreless streak ends, despite one-hit effort
By John Torenli / Special to MLB.com
Nick Schmidt missed all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. (Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)

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After missing all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Nick Schmidt is making up for lost time in impressive fashion.

Though his streak of not allowing an earned run ended at 26 1/3 frames in the Fort Wayne TinCaps' 5-2 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps on Monday night, the Padres' first-round pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft fired six one-hit innings to continue his compelling comeback.

"I'm getting there," Schmidt said. "My arm is bouncing back really well after my starts. In the beginning of the year, I had to baby [my arm] a little bit. But now, I can throw my side sessions at 100 percent."

The 23-year-old left-hander, who hadn't allowed an earned run since May 19 against South Bend, yielded a two-out single to Brandon Douglas in the opening frame before dominating the Whitecaps' lineup for the next five innings.

Schmidt worked around a leadoff walk in the second before retiring 11 straight batters. He walked Joseph Bowen with two outs in the fifth, but struck out Luis Salas and worked a 1-2-3 sixth.

In the seventh, Schmidt walked Ron Borquin to start the frame before being replaced by Eric Gonzalez, who was charged with four runs on five hits in the inning. Schmidt's scoreless run ended when Borquin scored on a single by Avisail Garcia.

"It's in your mind, but you have to take it pitch by pitch," Schmidt said of the streak. "I'm not worried about giving up a run. I'm worried about throwing strike one."

Selected 23rd overall in 2007, Schmidt was limited to only three appearances at Fort Wayne in his first professional season before undergoing surgery. He spent last year recovering from the procedure and pondering his future.

"All I could do was think about stuff," Schmidt said. "I thought about the mental aspect [of pitching] a lot . It doesn't matter once you get here what round you were selected in. I try not to worry about that."

Schmidt also missed two weeks earlier this year with elbow inflammation, but has been brilliant since his return in mid-May -- a trend he hopes continues as the long season progresses.

"I've been mixing my pitches real well, throwing strikes," he said. "I was having trouble throwing first-pitch strikes, but I got locked in there and really got it going."

At 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 11 appearances, including nine starts, thus far this season, Schmidt is re-establishing himself as one of the organization's top pitching prospects.

He is also focusing on the aspects of his career he can control, rather than dwelling on whether or not he will earn a promotion at some point this year.

"[Moving up] is obviously a goal that every player has, but that's not in my hands," Schmidt said. "I'll leave it to the staff. There's a lot of good pitchers at High A. I feel like I'm pitching well right now and that's the key."

John Torenli is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.