Cam Schlittler made a significant impact in his postseason debut for the New York Yankees, delivering a performance that set new records and drew attention to his pitching style. On Thursday, facing the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, Schlittler pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 batters without issuing a walk. This statline marks him as the first pitcher in postseason history to achieve such numbers. His 12 strikeouts also broke Dave Righetti’s long-standing record for most strikeouts by a Yankees pitcher in their playoff debut.
Schlittler relied heavily on his fastball during this outing, throwing it nearly 90% of the time—96 out of his 107 pitches were either four-seamers, sinkers, or cutters. According to pitch-tracking data since 2008, only eleven starting pitchers have thrown a higher percentage of fastballs in a postseason game with at least fifty pitches thrown. The last to do so was Cal Quantrill during the 2022 ALDS.
The league has seen a decline in fastball usage overall this season and in recent postseasons. Despite this trend, Schlittler’s approach stands out due to his use of three distinct types of fastballs: four-seam, sinker, and cutter. He explained his strategy by saying: “It’s just a four-pitch mix, and I’ve seen really good results with it.”
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole commented on Schlittler’s velocity after Thursday’s game: “It’s easy gas.” Data shows that Schlittler’s four-seamer averages 98 mph—among qualified starters only Hunter Greene, Jacob Misiorowski, and Paul Skenes throw harder. His sinker averages 97.5 mph and his cutter comes in at an average speed of nearly 92 mph.
Former Yankees infielder DJ Lemahieu once described the challenge hitters face against high-velocity fastballs with movement: “If you throw two different fastballs at 95-plus with an actual separation of movement, it’s impossible for a guy to match his bat paths to the pitches.” For Schlittler, these velocities are even higher than what Lemahieu referenced.
Schlittler did not always possess this level of velocity; he averaged just 90 mph on his four-seamer while pitching for Single-A Tampa in 2023. After being drafted from Northeastern University by the Yankees in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft, he was encouraged by team staff to add muscle mass and work closely with Eric Cressey—the organization’s Director of Player Health and Performance—to improve both strength and pitch mechanics.
This development led to greater effectiveness on the mound. During the regular season opponents hit .176 against Schlittler’s four-seamer with a swing-and-miss rate nearing twenty-eight percent among starting pitchers who generated at least two hundred swings off their fastball.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora remarked after facing him: “The stuff was outstanding… That was electric.”
Looking ahead, if the Yankees advance past Tuesday’s elimination game they will rely on Schlittler again for Game 4 against Toronto—a team more accustomed than Boston to hitting high-velocity pitches according to weighted On-base Average (wOBA) statistics from this season.
Schlittler remains prepared for whatever comes next as he continues making an impression early in his major league career.
