NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler needed only one October start to make the Yankees’ biggest pitching strength visible again.
The 25-year-old right-hander worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 9-0 Wild Card Series opener against Boston on Sept. 29 at Yankee Stadium. He allowed two hits and one walk, struck out 10 and threw a career-high 117 pitches. Schlittler earned the win. Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle took the loss.
The Yankees offense eventually turned the game into a rout, but it was only 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh. Ben Rice later finished 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs, including an eighth-inning grand slam. George Lombard Jr. added three hits and scored twice. Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber finished the shutout without a save opportunity.
Schlittler’s outing extended a run that has moved him from breakout starter to the center of the Yankees pitching staff. He finished the 2026 regular season 14-6 with an American League-best 1.95 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP and 239 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings across 33 starts. His postseason career through Oct. 2 included a 0.87 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.
Boston has seen the most extreme version. One year after Schlittler struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings to eliminate the Red Sox in the 2025 Wild Card Series, he struck out 10 more without allowing a run this time.
He became the first Yankees pitcher with multiple scoreless postseason outings of at least 10 strikeouts. His 0.47 ERA through his first six career starts against Boston, including the postseason, was the lowest by any pitcher over that span since earned runs became official in 1913.
Schlittler praise crosses into the Knicks
That run has now produced one of the most unusual public endorsements of any Yankees player this postseason.
Knicks forward Josh Hart, speaking with reporters Thursday, was asked about the Yankees and took his praise of Schlittler far beyond a normal cross-sport compliment. Hart prefaced the remark by discussing his faith before making a deliberately exaggerated comparison.
“I’m very religious. I know Jesus is at God’s right hand, but I think Cam Schlittler might be at his left,” Hart said.
Hart also said he planned to attend Game 3 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium. His comment came after he had spent the Yankees’ Game 2 win over Boston reacting publicly on social media as New York completed the sweep.
Yankees ace has built a rare October resume quickly
The remark landed because Schlittler’s postseason sample, while still small, already contains two performances that sit beside some of the best strikeout games in Yankees history.
His two career postseason games with at least 10 strikeouts are tied for the most in franchise history. Orlando Hernandez, Bob Turley, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina also had two. Schlittler became the sixth pitcher in MLB postseason history with multiple scoreless outings and at least 10 strikeouts, joining Justin Verlander, Sandy Koufax, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and Cliff Lee.
That is a different level of context than the Yankees had for him a year ago. Schlittler entered the 2025 postseason as a rookie with 14 major league starts. By October 2026, Aaron Boone had enough confidence to give him Game 1 against Boston ahead of a rotation that also included Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon.
After the Yankees swept the Red Sox, Boone’s pitching options expanded again. As of Oct. 2, Cole was set to start ALDS Game 1 at Tampa Bay, with Schlittler lined up for Game 2 on Oct. 5. Fried and Rodon remained available for the games at Yankee Stadium.
Rays present a different test for Yankees rotation
Tampa Bay will not carry Boston’s history with Schlittler, and the matchup is less one-sided.
Schlittler made three regular-season starts against the Rays in 2026 and posted a 2.86 ERA over 16 innings. Tampa Bay won seven of 13 games against the Yankees during the regular season, although New York took four of the final five meetings.
The Yankees therefore enter the ALDS with both a deep pitching staff and a starter whose reputation has grown beyond baseball. Hart’s line was delivered as humor, not analysis, but it captured the scale of the attention around Schlittler after another dominant night against Boston.
The next test comes in St. Petersburg, where the Yankees will ask him to make the praise look less extraordinary than the numbers already do.
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