From Bryan Hoch:
The moments immediately following the roughest outing of Cam Schlittler’s young career weren’t what bothered him. The Yankees’ right-hander felt he’d handled that well, tipping his cap to the Tigers’ lineup, almost marveling that it had taken that long to be knocked around at this level.
What lingered were the comments Schlittler heard and read afterward, from online chirpers eager to build a bad night into something more. The American League All-Star responded with a stellar performance on Monday night, hurling eight innings in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field.
“They want to say there’s (expletive) regression because I have one bad outing,” said Schlittler. “It was personal to go out there and just have a dominant start, and put this team in the right position.”
Put simply, Schlittler delivered an ace-caliber performance for a team that desperately needed one. His teammates appreciated the effort – as Schlittler spoke with the media after Monday’s start, Jazz Chisholm Jr. passed by and squealed in a high-pitched voice: “You’re the best, Cam-Ron!”
It’s hard to argue. Schlittler’s 2.01 ERA leads the AL, and it’s the lowest by a Yankees pitcher through his first 19 starts of a season since Phil Niekro in 1984 (1.88).
“It was huge. I’m not surprised he bounced back,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He was dominant, he was efficient and it was a great way to get the road trip started.”
José Caballero homered twice, Ben Rice hit a late solo blast and Schlittler took care of the rest – holding Tampa Bay to three hits while showcasing velocity that touched triple digits.
This was just the epitome of a “stopper” performance by Schlittler. Effectively refusing to lose. This is how the game in Fenway SHOULD have gone, but he was just a headcase in that game. This makes the Detroit game look like a fluke. Like Christopher Sanchez giving up nine runs in his last outing.
Thank goodness for Cabellero. I assume he’ll be out of the lineup for Game 2.
I almost made Cabby the featured image, but Schlittler was just too damn good (how funny, by the way, was Taylor Walls bunting with two strikes in the 8th inning?! That was a total “I have no chance against you, but maybe I can get lucky if I surprise you” bunt).
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I understand Ben Rice wanting to do the Home Run Derby with his dad, but I really hope it doesn’t give him a shoulder injury the way it did Judge in 2017.
By the way, for however bad the Yankees were in June, they actually were only slightly worse than the Rays. The entire AL East had an awful June, with the Rays being the only team to even reach .500 in the month (they were 13-13).
The only point I can draw from this is… you’re pointing out that they were very lucky, yes?
I don’t recall Al Holland on the 1986 and 1987 Yankees, but he passed away the other day. RIP, Al Holland.
They’re playing a lefty tonight, but they better not get too cute. Stick with Dominguez and Grisham in the outfield, and simply play Rosario at third over McMahon (if you REALLY want to get cute, I guess you could sit Dominguez, play Rosario in right, and play Volpe at short and Cabby at third).
Grisham definitely should not be sitting against a lefty.
Under no circumstance should Volpe should play shortstop. And especially not in a Will Warren start. Volpe should not play shortstop even facing a lefty. If you are desperate for a extra right handed bat in the absence of Judge and Stanton and the functional absence of Goldschmidt, then make Volpe your DH. But I’d prefer Rosario at DH and (yes) McMahon at 3B.
Poor Volpe. I wish he didn’t suck. I’d hoped he wouldn’t suck. But he’s so past the point of no return it’s not in the least bit funny.
No Volpe, but Schuemann in right field is still pretty stupid.
Stupid is what they do. It’s a damned good thing a lot of the players on this team are easy to root for.
Just send Volpe to SWB already.
yes
and wells and doval
Agreed on Doval, but I think Wells has as good of a chance as Escarra of getting a hit (both have few chances).