All the records set by Cam Schlittler, the rookie who was a Boston fan and now shines with the Yankees

Aaron Boone - English Boston Red Sox - English Cam Schlittler - English MLB - English MLB Playoffs - English New York Yankees - English Sports Wild Card Series - English

add

At the beginning of July, Cam Schlittler was in the Minor Leagues without offering his best face. In fact, on July 2 he made a start of 2.1 innings in which he allowed seven hits and the same number of runs, six of them earned. At that time no one could have imagined that this boy would be the one who would give the Yankees the classification to the Division Series after a spectacular performance.

But miracles happen, especially in a sport as unpredictable as baseball, which gives opportunity to those we least expect. Schlitter, a week after his last appearance in the Minors, climbed the mound at Yankee Stadium and pitched 5.1 innings against Seattle with seven strikeouts and three runs.

Since then, he has had a tremendous journey through MLB, with 14 regular season starts, a 2.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings of work. He also gave away 31 walks, for a rate of 3.8 per nine innings, but he was able to overcome these difficulties with control and go at least five innings in 11 of his appearances.

That’s how he got to the postseason, where manager Aaron Boone handed him the ball for a do-or-die game against Boston. With a ticket to the Division Series on the line, Schlittler brought out his powerful arsenal and dominated the Red Sox, the team of his childhood.

The right-hander was born and raised in Walpole, Massachusetts, and was always a Red Sox fan. In fact, he was at the 2004 World Series celebrations when he was only three years old. But the Yankees drafted him in 2022 and his life changed, to the point that his family went on to follow the Bombers, despite the eternal rivalry between the two teams.

Eight innings in his first postseason start

Taking the Lively Ball Era (since 1920) as a reference, a total of 135 pitchers have worked at least eight innings in their first playoff start, but this is a much less common phenomenon in modern times. This century, with the specialization in pitching and the increasing prominence of relievers, only 12 starters have completed at least eight innings in their postseason debut.

That exclusive group includes Schlittler, who became the first pitcher in the last ten years to pitch eight innings in his October debut. The right-hander broke the drought and took over from Jake Arrieta, who in 2015 made his debut with the Cubs in the National League Wild Card. Against the Pirates, the Chicago ace went the distance with 11 strikeouts, five hits and no runs.

Among the pitchers who have completed at least eight innings in their postseason debut this century are some stars, Cy Young Award winners such as Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Arrieta himself.

A never-before-seen domain

Pitching eight innings these days is difficult, but doing it without allowing a run and striking out 12 opponents is almost impossible. To get an idea, in the history of the MLB postseason, only 11 pitchers had achieved these combined numbers:

• Mort Cooper (Cardinals-1944)
• Bob Gibson (Cardinals-1968)
• Joe Coleman (Tigers-1972)
• Jim Palmer (Orioles-1973)
• Mike Boddicker (Orioles-1983)
• Mike Scott (Astros-1986)
• Kevin Brown (Padres-1998)
• Roger Clemens (Yankees-2000)
• Tim Lincecum (Giants-2010)
• Cliff Lee (Phillies-2010)
• Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers-2020)

Cam Schlittler joined this group, but went a little further and created a new list with only his name. The right-hander is the only pitcher in postseason history with an eight-inning, 12-strikeout, no-run, no-walk game.

History of the Yankees

No team has played more postseason games than the Yankees, so there are many pitchers who have worn the pinstripes in these decisive instances. However, only a handful have managed at least a dozen strikeouts in the playoffs

The record is held by Roger Clemens, who struck out 15 Seattle batters in Game 4 of the 2000 Championship Series. He is followed by Gerrit Cole, who struck out 13 against Cleveland in the 2020 Wild Card, while with 12 – the same mark as Schlitter – was Cuban Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez in the third game of the 2000 World Series against the Mets, remembered as the Subway Series.

Precocious Power

Cam Schlittler became the fourth pitcher in postseason history to achieve a dozen strikeouts before the age of 25. The youngest (21) to achieve this mark was John Candelaria (Pirates), who struck out 14 Cincinnati batters during the third game of the National League Championship Series in 1975.

The others to surpass this record are Cuban Livan Hernandez (Marlins-22 years old) and Jim Palmer (Orioles-24), who did so in their respective Championship Series in 1997 and 1970.

The 100-mile barrier

Only two Yankees starters (Luis Severino and Gerrit Cole) had topped 100 mph in a postseason game since 2008, when the Pitch Tracking Era began. Cam Schlittler joined that club on Thursday by throwing 11 triple-digit pitches against the Red Sox, who faced many difficulties against the young right-hander’s velocity and arsenal.

The radar clocked the 24-year-old at a top speed of 100.8 mph with a four-seam fastball against Jarren Duran, who managed to foul it off. In addition, Schlitter threw 37 pitches over 99 mph during his outing, which was based primarily on fast deliveries.

Of his 107 pitches, 75 were fastballs or sinkers (70%), with an average velocity of 99 mph between these two weapons. The rest of his work was with the cutter and the curveball, secondary tools with which he also managed to throw the Red Sox off balance.

In addition to Schlitter, Severino and Cole, the Yankees have had three other pitchers with 100 mph pitches in the playoffs. The list is headed by Aroldis Chapman and also includes Jonathan Loaisiga and Dellin Betances.

This news was originally published on this post .

Tagged as:
Aaron Boone - English Boston Red Sox - English Cam Schlittler - English MLB - English MLB Playoffs - English New York Yankees - English Wild Card Series - English

Share on

email

Previous

Dulce hogar

Primera División

Next

trending_flat

Athletics OF Lawrence Butler undergoes patellar tendon surgery

Sports