NEW YORK — The Yankees head into Wednesday night’s American League Division Series Game 4 at Yankee Stadium in a far stronger position than they might have imagined a day ago. Rookie Cam Schlittler, coming off a dazzling Wild Card start, will take the mound, while the Blue Jays are scrambling for arms.
Toronto will start Louis Varland — the same reliever who gave up Aaron Judge’s game-tying home run in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 9-6 Yankees win. It was a game that flipped momentum and exposed a thin Blue Jays pitching staff that now must rely on a bullpen already pushed to the brink.
The Yankees still trail 2-1 in the best-of-five series, but their advantage on the mound is significant. Game 4 has become a must-win for both teams, and the balance leans clearly toward New York.
Manager John Schneider confirmed Varland as the Game 4 starter following Tuesday’s loss. The 27-year-old right-hander has already appeared in all three games of the series. He struck out Giancarlo Stanton in a key Game 1 moment but has since been burned by home runs in consecutive outings.
“Like I said before the game, you’re trying to take chances to win today, and it didn’t work out,” Schneider said. “Everyone is available tomorrow.”
Varland has shown flashes of brilliance since arriving from Minnesota at the trade deadline, where he posted a 2.02 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 49 innings. But his performance with the Blue Jays has been inconsistent, ending the regular season with a 4.94 ERA in 23.2 innings.
After Game 3, Varland sounded ready but weary. “Ready for anything,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck.”
Bullpen already taxed after heavy usage
Toronto’s decision to carry only three traditional starters on its ALDS roster is backfiring. The Yankees have seen nearly every arm in the Blue Jays’ bullpen, building familiarity that could tilt the matchup further in New York’s favor.
Kevin Gausman needed four relievers to finish Game 1. Trey Yesavage’s Game 2 start followed seven relievers in 3.2 innings. Then, in Game 3, Shane Bieber lasted only 2.2 innings before Schneider had to cycle through six more pitchers.
That level of turnover has taken its toll.
“It helps us a lot,” said Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. “We’ve seen them all year a lot. Every game we’ve mostly faced them, we face three to four guys in their pen every game, and today it was probably like five, six.”
Chisholm added that repetition builds confidence. “You get to see them, maybe tomorrow their stuff isn’t as good as it was in Game 1 and 2, and we go out there and do our thing.”
Left-hander Eric Lauer is expected to play a key role in relief. He pitched well during the regular season, logging a 3.18 ERA over 104.2 innings before shifting to the bullpen. But his postseason has been rocky. Lauer allowed three runs on three hits while recording just one out in Game 2.
Toronto hopes to recapture the form it displayed on September 25, when Varland, Lauer, and Yariel Rodríguez combined for a perfect game bid through seven innings in a 6-1 win over Boston. But given the current fatigue, repeating that performance looks unlikely.
Schlittler returns on short rest after dominant Wild Card
The Yankees counter with Cam Schlittler, their 24-year-old rookie who has become one of the biggest postseason surprises of 2025. The right-hander from Walpole, Massachusetts, etched his name in Yankees history last week by striking out 12 Red Sox batters over eight scoreless innings to clinch the Wild Card Series.
He became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history to record 12 or more strikeouts in eight innings without issuing a walk. Schlittler retired the final nine hitters he faced before exiting after 107 pitches to a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
“I have confidence in myself. I have confidence in this team,” Schlittler said ahead of Game 4. “We’re back home in New York, and we play really good here.”
Manager Aaron Boone praised his rookie’s poise and demeanor.
“He’s obviously confident in his ability and he walks out there with some pretty good equipment,” Boone said. “He’s super matter-of-fact and expects to do well.”
Catcher Austin Wells said Schlittler’s game-time presence stands out.
“Just the way that he composes himself on the mound, he turns on to a different character really for me,” Wells said. “You see him walking off the mound kind of no emotion, I think it’s pretty cool.”
Blue Jays have success against Schlittler
The Blue Jays, however, have reason for optimism against the Yankees rookie. During the regular season, they hit him hard, tallying 12 hits and six runs over 6.2 innings. They also struck out only five times across those appearances.
Their most decisive outing came on September 5 at Yankee Stadium, when Schlittler gave up four earned runs on five hits in just 1.2 innings. Toronto’s lineup has continued to produce this postseason, scoring 29 runs in the first three games of the ALDS.
“It was impressive how many foul balls there were,” Schlittler recalled. “But I think I’m a different pitcher now than I was when I faced them two weeks ago. They had a good game plan that day and managed to foul a lot of balls off and work my count.”
Schlittler ended the regular season 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings across 14 starts. He has maintained that command and confidence in October, and the Yankees will need both in another elimination game.
Yankees control the pitching edge
For the Yankees, the setup could hardly be better. They are facing an exhausted Blue Jays bullpen with limited starting options, while sending out one of baseball’s hottest young pitchers. The contrast between Schlittler’s steady rhythm and Toronto’s piecemeal plan is stark.
Boone’s club knows this is their opportunity to even the series and force a Game 5. The Yankees’ offense, re-energized by Aaron Judge’s and Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s home runs, now pairs with a rested bullpen and a rookie who thrives under pressure.
Game 4 is shaping up as a showdown between a confident team finding its stride and one trying to hold together what’s left of its pitching staff.
And for once this postseason, the advantage belongs squarely to the Yankees.
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