NEW YORK — Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman wasn’t aware of it until late Friday morning, but the pitcher he’ll toe the rubber against on Saturday is attempting to master his best pitch.

That starter is Clarke Schmidt, who revealed this spring that he adopted Gauman’s split-changeup shortly before reporting to Yankees camp in an effort to add more depth to his repertoire.

When NJ Advance Media approached Gausman at his locker on Friday — minutes after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium — the righty was enthused to hear that another arm (albeit, a division rival) was learning his unique and elite pitch.

Gausman was eager to give the Yankees’ young righty some advice.

“Just trust it,” Gausman said. “Throw it a lot. Throw it often. Get a feel for it and continue to tinker with where your fingers are.”

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The two-time All-Star added: “He’ll probably realize that it’s a frustrating pitch, so I wish him all the best. It’s just a tough grip and took me a long time. Hopefully it takes him shorter than it took me.”

After the Yankees fell 3-0 to Toronto in their home opener later in the afternoon, Schmidt cracked a smile when NJ Advance Media forwarded that guidance along from Gausman.

“It’s very different from my other set of pitches,” Schmidt said. “I think it’s still a learning process, but I’m really excited and encouraged by where it’s at right now.”

Schmidt explained that he’s better and more comfortable with supinating upon release when he throws that pitch, meaning he leaves his palm up like a pitcher would on a breaking ball. That’s why “a very easy pitch to kind of cut a little bit,” Schmidt said. The opposite — and what a pitcher would normally do when throwing a changeup — is to pronate, turning your wrist over.

Gausman is able to get sharp arm side movement on his split-change, almost like a left-handed slider, because of his grip. He last touches the ball with his middle finger, feeling it scratch on the seam and begin to spin in that direction as he pulls down. When you factor in differing release heights — Gausman and Schmidt both referenced a similar wipeout changeup from Giants ace Logan Webb — it’s even harder to replicate.

“It could play off his stuff very well,” Gausman said. “You see Logan Webb, he’s a sinker guy with a really good changeup, kind of has that low slot like [Clarke] does. He’s got the ability to be really good and wish him all the best.”

Schmidt only used his split-change twice during his first start of the year and both were turned around for hits by Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker. It’s an infinitesimal sample size, of course, but Schmidt’s new changeup had more vertical drop (36.7 inches) than ever before in his career (he previously averaged from 30.9 to 31.4 inches per season).

Don’t be surprised if the righty mixes the change in more and more as the season goes along, a fifth pitch in Schmidt’s arsenal. He never lacks confidence with any part of his game, so it’s no surprise that Schmidt is already buzzing about the state of this new pitch.

“I think it’s definitely a very usable pitch in my repertoire,” he said. “100 percent.”