From Bryan Hoch:
It had been more than a month since Cam Schlittler had allowed more than two runs in any start, a string of strong performances that positioned the Yankees right-hander among the early frontrunners for the American League Cy Young Award.
That stellar campaign in the making hit its first significant speed bump on Tuesday, as Schlittler was knocked for a season-high five runs (four earned) over 4 1/3 innings in the Yankees’ 9-4 loss to the Guardians at Yankee Stadium.
Cam Schlittler had never allowed more than three runs in a game in his short career, and in this one, he could have easily allowed SEVEN runs (six earned), but luckily, Brent Headrick picked him up a bit in the fifth inning, but by that point, the damage had already been done, and a 4-3 lead was now a 5-4 deficit.
It’s funny how a day can change so many things. Coming into Tuesday, Cam Schlittler was awesome and Aaron Judge was just slumping. Now, after back-to-back starts where Cam Schlittler’s stuff wasn’t quite there (this is the second straight start where only five pitches exceeded 98 MPH), you at least have to be a LITTLE concerned about whether there is something physically wrong with him.
After the game, Schlittler said, “It wasn’t great in K.C. as well, and it wasn’t great tonight. I’ve just got to go out there and flush that stuff. I’ll work on it between starts and just go out there and pitch. I didn’t think I did that to my full potential today.”
If he just didn’t have it, whatever, shit happens. We’ve all watched Gerrit Cole long enough to know that even an all-time ace like Cole has had plenty of games where he just didn’t have it (as opposed to 2024, when he sure seemed to be pitching hurt most of the season, and was STILL excellent a lot of times). But you can’t help but be worried about it being a physical issue.
And speaking of physical issues, now we know why Judge has sucked so much lately. A lot of fans are pointing to the game against Baltimore where Judge collided with the right field wall about a month ago. The numbers after that game show a striking decline. But whether it was that specific game or not, Judge is dealing with AT LEAST a bone bruise in his rib cage, which could be very bad, as there is a reasonably decent change that he has a fracture that they’re missing (bone bruises are essentially mini-fractures, so the line between bone bruises and fractures is miniscule. It’s sort of like how all sprains are technically tears).
If you had to pick a part of the body where it is hardest to deal with a bone bruise, I would imagine your rib cage is WAY up there on the list. Judge is going to do some additional testing, which is smart. This isn’t something you want to mess around with, like when Teixeira had a fracture that was misdiagnosed as a bone bruise, and the guy actually started a game in the Major fucking Leagues with a fracture in his shin.
Missing Judge from the lineup is one thing, but missing an injured Judge is another thing all together. Even hurt, he was useful to have in the lineup, but obviously, the best case scenario is losing him from the lineup for however long it takes to get him right, so he starts crushing the baseball again.
The bullpen gave up four runs, and I really think they should just send Camilo Doval down to the minors to work on shit. You can never feel good about him coming into a game, so why not just call up Yovanny Cruz?
I also think that they should at least give Paul Blackburn a CHANCE to be a short man. Bring him in in the sixth inning one of these games to see what he can do. His stuff is unusual for a short man, to be sure, but I dunno, the guy really is kind of interesting. Someone in the bullpen is GOING to have to go. Doval can be optioned, but what if Cruz is good? You can’t carry TWO long men! If you want to try to use Blackburn as a multi-inning reliever like Mike King, then fair enough, but that ISN’T how he is being used. He’s pure mop up duties, so why is he even here?
Featured image is Schlittler blowing the 2-1 lead Goldy gave him (he would later blow the SECOND lead that Goldy gave him).
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I’m ok with them cutting Doval completely. I have zero confidence he is anything other than guy with a live arm. He pitches exceptionally slow AND is wild. There’s nothing enjoyable about watching him pitch.
I totally agree…..this guy is painful to watch.
He sucks
trade him to the CPBL
I almost want him to just go to the minors and throw the splitter constantly until he learns how to locate it. He NEEDS that splitter to be effective and he just CANNOT locate it. It’s MADDENING.
It’s weird that they’re acting like no Judge in the lineup is “news,” when, well, come on, he obviously wasn’t playing tonight.
CF T. Grisham L
1B Ben Rice L
DH P. Goldschmidt R
LF C. Bellinger L
2B J. Chisholm L
RF J. Caballero R
3B Ryan McMahon L
C Austin Wells L
SS A. Volpe R
Hoch No update on Aaron Judge, according to Aaron Boone, who said a doctor is still reviewing images.
Naked Phil Hughes pix?
I wonder, if Judge is out for a bit, whether kicking the tires on Nick Castellanos makes any sense.
Sounds like plenty of people would like to kick Nick Castellanos.
Doval had some nice ERA+ numbers with the Giants, except in 2024, but then he came to the Yankees and he is broken.
He is an interesting case where his peripherals don’t look bad, he just doesn’t have an out pitch because he can’t locate the splitter. He can get ahead with his lesser pitches, but then he can’t put anyone away, because his splitter is either an obvious ball (or wild pitch) or left right in the zone for batters to crush.
He’s just a fucking moron, and analytics have difficulty “grading” guys who suck because they’re just fucking morons, because the pitch quality suggests that this guy really SHOULD be better, but he isn’t, because he can’t locate his “out” pitch to save his life because he’s a fucking moron.