Why Cam Schlittler could save the New York Yankees’ season

NEW YORK – The first time Cam Schlittler got angry in a heated rivalry game, he was an 18-year-old high school senior. He was the ace Walpole High deployed for its biggest games in 2019. The matchups against Braintree High, another Massachusetts public school power in the area, fell into that category.

Schlittler beat Braintree three times this spring. Before a meeting, as both teams stretched out, he heard the Braintree players turfing.

“They were talking about my girlfriend at the time,” Schlittler said. “So I almost smoked one of the hitters. The coach at Braintree is from Walpole, so I knew him. I told him as I was passing in the first inning, ‘if they talk about my girl again, I’m going to hit the next three guys.’ “

“So he went (and) told their guys to shut up and they stopped talking. I was pretty shut up after that. I destroyed them.”

The second time Schlittler threw in anger in a rivalry game was last week.

The setting was different – ​​the New York Yankees pitching against the Boston Red Sox, his favorite team growing up, at Yankee Stadium. The stakes have been high – a do-or-treat Game 3 of the Wild-card Series with a trip to Toronto for the American League Division Series on the line in his 15th major league start. But similar rage simmered after Red Sox fans, in his view, crossed the line by attacking his family members on social media.

“I texted my family 20 minutes before the game,” Schlittler said. “I said, like, ‘Hey, it’s playoff baseball. It doesn’t matter that we’re from Boston. They will get under your skin. Don’t answer. Don’t walk away. Don’t give them an advantage. We’ll handle it after the game, whatever. And I’m going to go and kick him. “”

The 24-year-old rookie backed up his commitment, becoming the first pitcher to throw at least eight scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts and no walks in a postseason game. The 12 strikeouts were the most ever in a win-win game. He overpowered the Red Sox with a steady dose of 100 mph fastballs. He dismantled his hometown club.

On Wednesday, six days after he helped save the Yankees’ season, they’ll ask him to start again with the team trailing 2-1 in the ALDS.

“I think he’s obviously confident in his abilities, and he’s going with some really good equipment,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But he’s actually great and expects to do well, (and) is also a little in charge and on himself. (It’s like), ‘Man, how can I get something out of this outing that needs to be a little bit better or build on something that was really good in this outing?’ “”

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Schlittler first touched 80 mph as a 5-foot-6 middle school student. He first touched 90 mph, after a 6-inch growth spurt, as a sophomore during his first year on Walpole’s varsity team. And he first touched 100 mph, long after hitting 6-6, in his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium in July.

“I love it when I look up and see the 100 with the flame,” Schlittler said. “It’s a good feeling. But I’m not too worried about the 100. I care more about my average than peak Velo. To me, it’s like, ‘Man, if I can average 97, 98, that’s elite.’ “Yeah, it’s nice to sit 100 but, at the end of the day, if my fastball is still 98, 99 in the seventh inning, that’s the main goal.”

The rise was the culmination of a steady development trajectory. Schlittler was never considered a top prospect nationally at any level. He went to Northeastern, a mid-major program, before being drafted in the seventh round. But the people around him swore on his untapped potential.

“He was a late bloomer, but he was dominant,” Walpole head baseball coach Chris Costello said. “The common theme was always up, up, up. Under his belt, there’s a lot of guys that have upside. Most guys don’t reach it. He achieved it at every level.”

To reach it at the highest level, Schlittler has focused on gaining weight over the past two winters. A stomach bug during spring training wiped out his gains for the 2024 season, but he gained the weight this year. Yet his fastball sat 93 to 96 mph when he reported to spring training, according to Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake. There was more work to do.

By summer, after streamlining his mechanics at Double-A and Triple-A, Schlittler was holding steady in the upper 90s. Then, with the Yankees needing someone to replace injured starter Clarke Schmidt, he made his debut in the Bronx against the Seattle Mariners on July 9 and pitched 100.

Schlittler’s fifth pitch that day at Yankee Stadium was a 99.9 mph fastball. His ninth was a 99.6 mph fastball up the middle that froze MVP candidate Cal Raleigh for Strike Three. His 14th throw officially cleared the triple-digit threshold.

“I wouldn’t say it’s that common in a calendar year to do that kind of jump, 6, 7 miles an hour,” Blake said. “But it’s also not totally unheard of, especially with a guy like this, who you think of as a classic projectable frame. But just because he’s projected doesn’t mean he’s going to actualize it. It’s always the next step.”

The unexpected increase was not a fleeting-after-adrenalin occurrence. Schlittler maintained the increase in speed in games and between starts. His four-seam fastball averaged 98 mph in his 14 regular season starts. His sinker averaged 97.5 mph. Last week, he threw 107 pitches against the Red Sox. Of those, 64 were at least 98 mph and 11 were triple kicks.

“It goes back to the hard work I put in during the offseason,” said Schlittler, who has already thrown 37 more innings this year than before. “To still feel this good at the end of the season is a blessing.”

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John Schlittler wanted her son to attend Xaverian Brothers High School, a private Catholic school in Westwood, for his academics. That’s where he went before playing baseball and football at Stonehill College.

“That’s what I was focused on,” John Schlittler said. “Because, at the time, it had nothing to do with baseball…I just thought he could use discipline and academics. But he said, ‘I want to stay home and play with my boys here at Walpole.’ “”

Six years after graduation, Cam Schlittler is in a group chat with 17 friends from Walpole High. Last month, when the Yankees played at Fenway Park, 16 of them showed up for a game. On the 17th, a Boston firefighter was working. After the match, the friends took a photo on the field.

“It was like a reunion at Fenway,” Schlittler said. “I got them all tickets…I can’t really see them, so it was really good.”

These same friends gave Schlittler grief for bouncing their Red Sox out of the playoffs. Schlittler lives in Boston during the offseason and considers the city home. Some trash talk was fine – and expected. But he said he was shocked by the vitriol he and his family received that night — and he took it a little more personally than he would have from another fan base.

“He’s a very loyal person,” Costello said. “His family, they’re very tight. And they just pissed off the wrong guy that night.”

There’s a good chance Schlittler won’t get upset on Wednesday when he encounters a much more dangerous lineup than the one he faced last week. Perhaps revenge could serve as fuel.

It was against the Blue Jays, at Yankee Stadium, that Schlittler endured the worst start of his young career. It happened on September 5 in his 10th career outing. His things were neat. He made some good pitches. But the Blue Jays, the toughest team to break out of in the majors this season, were seemingly on everything. He threw 66 pitches over just 1⅔ innings. Of the 66, 24 were fouled.

“It was at a point where I kind of wanted them to put it in play,” Schlittler said.

It was obvious to the Yankees that Schlittler was tipping his pitches. He and Blake said the issue has been addressed and it’s no longer an issue. But a rigid challenge remains. It’s on Schlittler, once again, to extend the Yankees’ season.

“I have confidence in myself,” Schlittler said. “I have confidence in this team.”