Cam Schlittler is on his way to the AL Cy Young, but that has not yet guaranteed him the start in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series next week.
As of Wednesday, the Yankees were still working through their plans for the rotation in the first round of the playoffs, with Aaron Boone only willing to go as far as saying Schlittler would pitch in one of the first two games.
Asked if the Yankees were lining up Schlittler, who is slated to start Thursday against the Rays, for Game 1 of the wild-card series, Boone said, “not necessarily,” reasoning that whoever starts Game 1 or 2 would still be able to pitch Games 2 and 5 of a potential ALDS.
“There’s like three or four different iterations of it, really, whether you go Cam or Max [Fried] Game 1 or 2, and then where you fit Carlos [Rodón] and Gerrit [Cole] in,” pitching coach Matt Blake said before the Yankees’ 9-2 blowout win over the Rays on Wednesday night at the Stadium. “There’s a bunch of different iterations of those four guys across three games that could make sense, depending on who you’re playing and what that means coming out of the rest here into potential rest in the next series. But obviously you got to win the wild card.”
Schlittler, who owns a 1.94 ERA, would be pitching on his fifth day if he started Tuesday’s Game 1, likely against the Red Sox. Cole, who started Wednesday night, would be on his sixth day, while Fried and Rodón would be on their seventh day.
Blake acknowledged that “in a vacuum,” the Yankees would prefer their starter to be going on his sixth day, “but I don’t think that would necessarily dictate where they throw necessarily.”
“Whatever makes sense strategically we’ll probably go with because they’ll all have adequate rest,” Blake said. “Cam would be on the shortest for Game 1, but reasonable.”
Cole, who returned from Tommy John surgery in May, picked up the win Wednesday night to finish his season with a 10-9 record and a 3.61 ERA.
Fried has a 2.80 ERA and just got to his full clip of pitches Tuesday in his fifth start back from the IL, while Rodón dominated the Rays on Tuesday to lower his ERA to 2.67.
“Obviously you’re looking at the whole body of work, but the last month or so is pretty telling of where guys are at physically and what they’re capable of doing down the stretch,” Blake said. “But there’s also with Gerrit, it’s not just the month, it’s knowing who he is. Carlos is obviously throwing the ball really well, Gerrit’s an historically good pitcher, threw the ball well in Arizona.”
