Last week, the New York Yankees sent rookie Cam Schlittler to the mound in the decisive Game 3 against the Red Sox in the Wild Card round.
Eight shutout innings, zero walks, and 12 strikeouts later, the Yankees advanced to the ALDS against the Blue Jays.
Now, following an almost unbelievable comeback in Game 3, New York will hand Schlittler the ball in the Bronx again, this time for an even more important Game 4. A win would even the series and let the Yankees start ace Max Fried on full rest for a potential Game 5 in Toronto on Friday.
And this time, Cam Schlittler might not mow down the Blue Jays as easily as he did the Red Sox. To be fair, he has faced them twice already this season and likely knows that. Especially after they chased him early in a home start on September 5, when the big righty allowed four runs on five hits in just 1.2 innings.
However, Schlittler’s second career start occurred in Toronto on July 22, and he pitched five innings of two-run ball in a no-decision. The Yankees won the game 5-4 on Ben Rice’s go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.
In other words, Cam Schlittler knows Game 4 will be different.
Take a look at his start against Boston and his approach was simple. Throw his best and fastest pitches regularly, and dare the Red Sox lineup to keep up. They couldn’t.
Now, it’s very possible that early on, Cam Schlittler might throw hard early just to establish his fastball control. That’s how he dominated the Red Sox: Fastball command. Remember, though Schlittler throws a curveball and sinker, he leans heavily on his four-seamer and cutter. He’s young and still learning how to pitch.
What’s strange is that like Toronto, the Red Sox didn’t strike out much during the regular season. Their team K% ranked fourth in baseball at 20.3% compared to the Blue Jays’ MLB-best at 17.8%. The Jays owning the best team batting average in baseball also helps.
As in, this is an aggressive lineup that hunts fastballs early and often. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is batting .615 with three home runs already and George Springer is a notorious Yankee killer.
So what does that mean for Cam Schlittler? Well, chances are that early on, he’ll at least try the same approach as he did against Boston. Toronto is aggressive at the plate, but he can’t not throw his best fastball all game. He used it almost 55% of the time in the regular season.
But what Schlittler must do is incorporate his sinker and curveball more often. Toronto struck out only seven times in the first two games of the series before fanning 11 times in Game 3. It was an anomaly, so it’s likely Schlittler may need to rely on control and soft contact to keep his team in the game. Not exactly easy for a fastball-dominant pitcher.
One way or another, Game 4 is the Yankees’ game to lose. They have a dominant young righty going while Toronto, meanwhile, is doing a bullpen game. And after Game 3 starter Shane Bieber didn’t even last three innings.
Anything can happen in baseball, particularly Aaron Judge suddenly batting .500 in the postseason. Let’s see if Cam Schlittler can bring some more October magic in Game 4.
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