TAMPA — The last, but perhaps most anticipated, piece of the Yankees’ projected Opening Day rotation has finally joined the fold.
Cam Schlittler, slowed earlier in camp by mid-back/left lat inflammation, made his spring debut Friday night, throwing 2 ¹/₃ scoreless innings against the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.
As long as he continues to bounce back well the rest of the spring, the Yankees believe Schlittler can get built up to throw around 65-80 pitches in his regular-season debut.
“We got a plan laid out, so I’m very confident that I’m going to be good to go that [first] weekend,” Schlittler said.
The 25-year-old right-hander brought the heat from the jump, striking out the first batter he faced on three pitches, capped off with a 99.4 mph fastball.
That pitch averaged 98.7 mph across his 39 pitches, scattering two hits and one walk while striking out four.
But the pitch that may have jumped out the most Friday was Schlittler’s cutter, which he used to strike out a pair of batters. The pitch peaked at 96.5 mph and averaged 94.9 mph, up noticeably from the 91.9 mph it averaged last season.
“It’s nasty, too,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Couple of his live [batting practices], just standing behind him, it’s kind of wicked. I think if he can get the consistency on that downer curveball that he has, then if you want to count the cutter as the third fastball [along with a four-seam and two-seam], the three fastballs with the curveball, then he gets pretty tough to deal with.”
Schlittler credited Gerrit Cole with having him split the cutter into two pitches before his final start of the regular season last year, focusing on a harder cutter that he predominantly threw up in the zone.
“Continue to hopefully keep the velo and location as well,” he said.
Schlittler has the potential to elevate the Yankees’ rotation this year if he can build off his 14-game cameo last season, when he was called up in July to replace the injured Clarke Schmidt and pitched to a 2.96 ERA the rest of the way. He was even better in the playoffs, delivering an historic performance against his hometown Red Sox in the clinching Game 3 of the AL wild-card series, striking out 12 across eight shutout innings.
Boone said that Schlittler’s confidence, combined with his competitiveness, is what impressed him the most.
“He comes up and he’s able to make adjustments without it being stressful,” Boone said. “He was just at ease right away, in the best kind of way.”
