Cam Schlittler has been one of the best young pitchers in the game since the Yankees called him up in July, but no one expected him to do what he did last night.
Eight innings, no walks, no runs, and 12 strikeouts, the first time a pitcher has ever tossed that many innings without a walk and at least 12 strikeouts.
He delivered one of the greatest postseason starts in the history of the franchise, and against a Red Sox team that has historically given the Yankees issues in the playoffs, the stakes couldn’t have been higher in a Wild Card situation.
It’s do-or-die, and after some chirps from Red Sox fans that forced his mother to private her social media pages, he put together one of the greatest performances by any pitcher in the history of the Yankees’ franchise.
So, how did he do it?
READ MORE: Yankees deciding between two talented but inconsistent starters for ALDS Game 1
Cam Schlittler Brought The Heat In Yankees’ Series Clincher
Exceptional fastball velocity has been Cam Schlittler’s calling card since being promoted to the big leagues, and he relied on it in this big start against the Red Sox.
64 pitches came in at 98 MPH or harder, hitting 100 MPH 11 different times throughout the night, relying on his fastball shapes a ton all evening.
70% of his pitches were either his four-seamer or sinker, filling up the zone and forcing the Red Sox to work from behind the count or catch up to it.
The shape of his four-seamer was elite, having 17.5 inches of Induced Vertical Ride at 99 MPH on average, which resulted in that excellent 42% Whiff%.
He also featured a hard cutter that he could mix-in there sitting around the mid-to-high 90s, giving the Red Sox three firm pitches they have to read with distinct movement profiles and catch up to.
Cam Schlittler tied Zack Wheeler for the most whiffs on a fastball in a playoff start in the Statcast Era (since 2015), and the Red Sox were lost all night.
Three-fastball pitchers can create chaos for hitters, the velocity is similar out of the hand and the shapes differ wildly, deceiving hitters who might read four-seamer off the hand and end up getting a sinker.
Furthermore, the elite velocity he possesses forces these hitters to either let the ball travel deep and shoot it the other way for a single at most, or try and get out in front to drive it out of the yard.
That latter approach opens you up to whiffs, and it’s how you end up striking out 12 times if you aren’t able to properly execute that kind of approach.
In a week where Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, and Hunter Greene all pitched, it was Cam Schlittler who shined the brightest.
The Yankees’ Player Development deserves a ton of credit for the team winning this series against a pesky Red Sox team that put them on the brink of elimination early.
It was Anthony Volpe who picked up the lone RBI in Game 1 and played excellent defense throughout the series, saving the team’s bacon on wild throws or getting to balls that most shortstops wouldn’t touch.
Austin Wells called great games, the staff pitched to a 2.00 ERA in this series and he picked up the game-winning knock in Game 2 to force a Game 3.
Brayan Bello was chased early because Ben Rice blasted a home run to right field and scared Alex Cora from letting him pitch deep into the game, depleting the bullpen.
The headliner is of course Cam Schlittler, who delivered the greatest start by a rookie in the history of the postseason in my opinion, and that’s why the Yankees are heading to Toronto for the ALDS.
He was incredible last night because he was filling up the zone with elite-level stuff, and the Yankees might have a frontline starter on their hands for the next six years.