If the Yankees need a Game 3 starter against the Red Sox, they will hand the ball to their rookie flamethrower.
Cam Schlittler would follow Max Fried and Carlos Rodón in the wild-card series, manager Aaron Boone said Monday, solidifying what had become apparent down the stretch that the right-hander had earned the opportunity.
“I feel confident with any of our five starters going out there, but I feel like Cam’s the guy to get that ball in Game 3,” Boone said after the Yankees worked out Monday in The Bronx.
If the Yankees were to sweep the Red Sox, that would likely mean Schlittler would get the ball for Game 1 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays.
But they have to get there first.
After starting the year in Double-A, Schlittler was called up to the big leagues in July after it became clear that Clarke Schmidt needed Tommy John surgery.
The 24-year-old took the opportunity and ran with it, with a 2.96 ERA across 14 starts and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings.
With Luis Gil having started Game 162 on Sunday — and therefore unlikely to be on the wild-card series roster — Schlittler essentially won the starting role over Will Warren, who could still make the roster as a reliever, though Boone said they were still finalizing those decisions as of Monday afternoon.
Boone and Alex Cora are good friends, dating back to their time at ESPN together, but the Red Sox manager is 4-1 against his Yankees counterpart in the playoffs and 24-15 against him over the past three regular seasons.
“I think he’s really good,” Boone said. “They play the game within the game really well. I think he’s a really good leader. I think his team kind of embodies who he is, and I think he does a really good job of helping set and define the culture over there. Obviously they’ve gone through a couple of tough years, but he’s always been the clear leader of that group.”
After his club clinched a playoff spot over the weekend, Cora claimed that anyone who said they thought the Red Sox were a playoff team in February, “That’s f–king bulls–t.” Boone seemed to get a kick out of that.
“I think he’s played ‘The Little Engine That Could’ a little bit over there,” Boone said with a grin. “I think a lot of people knew the Red Sox were coming this year. But I think he’s one of the game’s really good ones.”
Lucas Giolito is no longer in play to be the Game 3 Red Sox starter, as the right-hander will be off the roster while dealing with an elbow injury, Cora said Monday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
