Cam Schlittler, a 24-year-old rookie pitcher for the New York Yankees, is set to start again with his team facing postseason elimination. After helping the Yankees avoid elimination last week with eight strong innings against the Red Sox in the American League Wild Card Series, Schlittler will take the mound Wednesday night for Game 4 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees extended their postseason on Tuesday by defeating the Blue Jays 9-6 at Yankee Stadium, cutting Toronto’s lead in the best-of-five series to 2-1. New York must win Game 4 at home to force a decisive Game 5 in Toronto.
Schlittler has been effective since joining the major leagues in July. In his first postseason start, he described his approach: “It was just another day for me, just showing up and making sure I was staying within myself and, obviously, some external factors,” Schlittler said. “But at the end of the day, I knew what I needed to do and the team knew what we needed to do, and we were able to go out there and perform at the highest level.”
During his regular season appearances, Schlittler posted a 2.96 ERA over 14 starts. He has pitched at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer in ten of his past twelve outings.
The Blue Jays are one of few teams that have found success against him this year. In their September meeting at Yankee Stadium, they scored four runs off Schlittler in less than two innings—the only time he failed to pitch four full innings as a big leaguer. Reflecting on that outing, Schlittler said: “I think I’m a different pitcher now than I was when I faced them a month ago, and now, even from two weeks ago,” he explained. “They had a good game plan that day… Going into [Wednesday], just making sure that I can make those adjustments and get the weak contact that I’m looking for.”
He noted how persistent Toronto’s hitters were during that loss: they fouled off nearly 36 percent of his pitches—his highest rate allowed all season.
Toronto will be without Bo Bichette due to injury but still features several hitters familiar with Schlittler’s style.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone commented on Schlittler’s development: “He’s obviously confident in his ability, and he walks out there with some pretty good equipment,” Boone said. “But he’s super matter of fact and expects to do well… Man, how can I pull something from that outing that needs to be a little bit better… build on something that was really good?”
Boone added: “I feel like he’s done a really good job of that… that’s a testament to him and his confidence… He’s done great.”
Infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., who hit a go-ahead home run during Tuesday’s win over Toronto, expressed confidence in Schlittler: “We all know what Cam could do, so our level of confidence is pretty high,” Chisholm said. “But we’ve still got to come out there and help him a little bit, you know?”
