Alexander Wilson
There is going to be a very specific moment on Thursday night at Fenway Park when Cam Schlittler walks out of the visiting bullpen and the Boston crowd gets its first real look at him since the Wild Card. Whatever happens in that moment, it’s going to be loud, and Schlittler is not only ready for it, he’s been thinking about it.
“It’s gonna be bad, it’s gonna be bad,” Schlittler told the New York Post. “I’m not nervous about it, but it’s gonna be loud. They’re gonna probably have dudes that are my age or a little bit younger, sitting right outside the visiting bullpen, yelling whatever, probably throwing stuff at me, trying to grab me. That’s kind of what I expect. So I know the guys are excited for it and I’m excited for it.”
That is not a pitcher bracing for a hostile environment. That is a pitcher who feeds on hostile environments, and the New York Yankees are going to need exactly that energy on Thursday night.
Why This Series Already Has an Edge to It
Schlittler grew up in Massachusetts watching the Red Sox. He didn’t become a Yankee by choice, he was drafted in the seventh round by New York in 2022 after Boston passed on him multiple times. He had no say in where he landed, but the fact that he’s thrived in pinstripes while the team that repeatedly overlooked him watches from across the rivalry is the kind of storyline that writes itself.
The death threats he’s been receiving from Red Sox fans are a whole different level of reaction to what amounts to a kid from Massachusetts doing his job extremely well for the other team. Schlittler addressed the fanbase directly and with more patience than most people would muster. “Most normal fans could care less, right?” he told the Post. “It’s just those diehards that just have nothing else in their lives other than baseball or sports that really care about this, and the fact that I play for the Yankees makes it worse for them.”
He’s not wrong. And he’s also not backing down. When asked about how Boston might approach the matchup given what happened in the Wild Card, he couldn’t help himself. “[You’d] think after last time, how much they were talking before, that they might be trying to quiet it down a little bit,” Schlittler told The Athletic.
What He Did Last Time
If you need a reminder about why Red Sox fans are this worked up, Schlittler struck out 12 batters in the Wild Card last October and helped the Yankees advance while Fenway went quiet. He was a seventh-round pick from their backyard doing that to their team on their field. That’s going to sit with a fanbase for a while.
Luis Gil takes the ball on Tuesday to open the series, and Thursday’s matchup is set up to be the most intense game of the early season. Schlittler pitching at Fenway with that crowd, with that history, with that personality, is appointment television whether you’re a Yankees fan or not.
The Red Sox are going to bring everything they have. Schlittler has already made clear he’s expecting exactly that, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
More about:New York Yankees
