NEW YORK — Earlier this year, Cam Schlittler caught Aaron Boone’s attention in a late spring-training start.
The 24-year-old carried himself with a controlled intensity that Boone didn’t usually see from rookies. Schlittler’s confidence on the mound was superior, no doubt. That much was clear when he pitched four scoreless innings against the Phillies in his final spring start. But it was the right-hander’s competitive edge that left a lasting impact on the Yankees manager.
In between innings, Boone decided to keep an eye on him. He watched Schlittler, who was mostly unknown to the skipper at the time, interact with teammates and personnel, curious how he was handling being invited to his first major-league camp. The moment didn’t seem too big for him.
Seven months later, the righty made his first career postseason start in an elimination game against the Boston Red Sox, his favorite childhood team. Now, the Yankees’ 4-0 win in Game 3 of the Wild Card series will always be remembered as the Cam Schlittler Game.
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
“He’s been our secret weapon,” Aaron Judge said of Schlittler. “Even in his debut at Yankee Stadium, while he’s getting a standing ovation, he has his head down, locked in. Special player. Special player.”
The rookie introduced himself on the national stage by whiffing a dozen batters and walking none in eight shutout innings. It was unprecedented. He ousted the division-rival Red Sox from the playoffs and created new hope for New York’s deep October run.
Behind Schlittler’s 107-pitch gem, the Yankees advanced to the American League Division Series, which will take place against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night at the Rogers Centre.
“It’s personal for me after some hometown chirping,” he said. “I was locked in.”
Schlittler is from Walpole, Mass. He grew up a Red Sox fan, but he converted his family to fully support the Bronx Bombers the moment that he became a Yankee. Even though his parents were happy to support Schlittler, not all of his friends shared the same sentiment.
Schlittler said there was chatter coming from Massachusetts natives ahead of his start, including Red Sox fans and his own friends, understanding that they tried to upset him. He didn’t speak to his friends for two days because of their smack talk, deciding instead that his 100 mph fastballs would do the talking. Though Schlittler didn’t divulge the comments that irked him, it was clear those remarks, intended as insults, only motivated him further.
“There’s a line I think they crossed a little bit,” he said. “That’s just how it is. We’re aggressive back home, and we’re going to try and get under people’s skin. They just picked the wrong guy to do it to. And the wrong team to do it to, as well.”
Schlittler, the Yankees’ 2022 seventh-round pick out of Northeastern University, started the season in Double-A before getting promoted to Triple-A in June. After five starts at the highest level of the minor-league system, the Yankees decided he was ready for his major-league debut.
On July 9 in the Bronx, he held the Mariners to three earned runs on four hits, while striking out seven batters in 5.1 solid innings. He recorded a 2.96 ERA in 14 major-league starts for the Yankees this season.
“I remember being really excited when we brought him up and we were going to commit to him going into the rotation,” Boone said. “And he didn’t disappoint.”
On Thursday night, when Schlittler ended the seventh inning on 100 pitches, the crowd of 48,833 at Yankee Stadium figured his night was over. So when he came back out for the eighth, the surprise in the ballpark quickly turned into delight. The rookie’s loudest ovation of his start came when he was throwing warm-up pitches ahead of the eighth inning. He returned the favor by pitching a perfect frame and adding one more strikeout to his final line.
As he had done all night, after every perfect inning, Schlittler calmly walked off the mound and into the Yankees dugout. Around him, the crowd and his teammates burst into a frenetic applause. Three more outs remained, but the Red Sox were already as good as finished.
“We needed to be perfect tonight, because he was perfect,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “The stuff is outstanding. He was under control. That was electric.”
Schlittler became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw at least eight scoreless innings and record at least 12 strikeouts without allowing a walk in a postseason game. After his lights-out performance, it was easy to forget that he’s still so green — with fewer than 75 major-league innings under his belt.
For a moment, even Yankees pitchers thought that maybe they should stop giving him the rookie treatment.
“Even some guys in the bullpen were like, ‘Maybe I won’t talk shit to him anymore,’” Yankees right-hander Will Warren said. “But then they laughed and were like, ‘Ah! Yeah, right!’”
The Yankees trusted Schlittler to take the mound in an elimination game against the team he grew up rooting for because his unshakable resiliency has been just as much a part of his makeup as the life on his fastball. Ask his teammates what stood out to them when they first met Schlittler, and his calm and cool demeanor is one of the first things they mention.
However, after Thursday night’s brilliant effort shutting down his treasured boyhood team, there just might be something better that tops the list.
“I had a really good opportunity to face a good lineup and end their season,” Schlittler said of the Red Sox. “Now I have bragging rights over everyone I know back home.”
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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