TAMPA, Fla. — For a franchise waiting on answers about its pitching future, Friday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field offered a few encouraging ones. The Yankees shut out the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0 in a crisp Grapefruit League contest that lasted just two hours and 29 minutes. A crowd of 9,701 watched a group largely made up of Scranton shuttle candidates and returning Yankees regulars combine to blank Tampa Bay on just three hits.
But the biggest storyline had nothing to do with the final score. It had everything to do with the tall right-hander who took the mound for the Yankees for the first time since last October. Cam Schlittler, the Yankees breakout rookie from 2025, was finally pitching in a game again. And the early returns were good enough to let the Bronx exhale.
Grisham provides the early spark
The Yankees lineup was missing its captain. Aaron Judge was in Scottsdale leading Team USA against Brazil in the World Baseball Classic opener. But the remaining bats did enough against Rays starter Joe Boyle to build a lead before most fans had settled into their seats.
Trent Grisham, batting leadoff, delivered the big blow. His two-out single in the bottom of the second inning drove in a pair of runs to give the Yankees a 2-0 cushion. It was the only hit with runners in scoring position for either team on the night, and it proved to be more than enough for the Yankees. Grisham finished 1-for-3 on the evening. Cody Bellinger also collected a hit and swiped a bag off Boyle. Ben Rice reached base twice, going 1-for-2 with a walk.
The Yankees tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. The rest of the Yankees offense was quiet, with the club going just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position overall. But on a night built around pitching, that was plenty.
Schlittler’s spring debut puts health fears to rest
This was the moment Yankees fans had been waiting for since camp opened. Schlittler had not pitched in a game since his Game 4 start in the ALDS against Toronto last October. Back inflammation delayed the start of his spring with the Yankees, and when reports surfaced of additional lat discomfort, anxiety spread through the fan base fast.
On Friday, the 25-year-old from Walpole, Mass., made those worries feel premature. Schlittler worked 2.1 innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out four. He earned the win in the Yankees 3-0 victory. His pitch count was limited by design. Manager Aaron Boone had said earlier in the week that the goal was to build Schlittler up to 65 to 80 pitches before Opening Day on March 25. This outing was a first step in that ramp-up process.
The stuff looked like the same arm that terrorized the Red Sox in last year’s Wild Card Series, when Schlittler fired eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts and zero walks in a winner-take-all Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. That performance set a franchise record for strikeouts in a postseason debut. On Friday, the velocity and the confidence were both present. He attacked the zone and did not appear to be favoring anything. For a team missing Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt from the Yankees rotation to start the year, that matters a great deal.
“He’s been our secret weapon,” Judge said of Schlittler after last year’s playoff run. “Even in his debut at Yankee Stadium, while he’s getting a standing ovation, he has his head down, locked in. Special player. Special player.”
Cabrera returns and the Yankees bullpen holds firm
The other notable return on Friday belonged to Oswaldo Cabrera. The versatile infielder made his spring debut at shortstop after missing most of 2025 with a left ankle fracture suffered in Seattle. Cabrera went 0-for-0 with a walk in his first plate appearance back. He was replaced later in the game by top prospect George Lombard Jr., who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
After Schlittler departed, the Yankees bullpen took over and slammed the door. A parade of Yankees arms combined to keep the Rays off the scoreboard. Tampa Bay struck out 18 times on the night and managed just three singles. The Rays, who entered at 5-9 this spring, sent a lineup heavy on minor league names. But zeroes on the board are zeroes on the board. Drew Watson closed it out in the ninth with three strikeouts and earned the save.
What it means for the Yankees rotation picture
With Cole, Rodon, and Schmidt all expected to miss time at the start of the regular season, the Yankees need Schlittler healthy and sharp. He went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA across 14 starts after being called up from Triple-A Scranton in July last year. He struck out 84 batters in 73 innings. In two postseason starts, he allowed just two earned runs in 14.1 innings.
Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported earlier in the week that Schlittler would likely be built up to throw about 75 pitches for his first regular season start. If his health holds, Schlittler could start the Yankees second game of the year in San Francisco on March 27. He is expected to make roughly four spring starts between now and the end of camp.
The Yankees projected Opening Day rotation currently looks like Max Fried, Schlittler, Ryan Weathers, Luis Gil, and Will Warren, with Ryan Yarbrough as a swing option. Fried, who went 19-8 with a 2.86 ERA last season, is the clear No. 1. But Schlittler’s development into a reliable second option is critical for a team that believes it can compete for its first World Series title since 2009.
Friday’s outing was only 2.1 innings. It was spring training. It did not count. But for a Yankees club still assembling its pitching puzzle, it counted plenty. The next piece of the Yankees rotation is in place. The ramp-up has begun.
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