NEW YORK – Cam Schlittler had yet to warm up, let alone throw the biggest pitches of his life, when he told Andy Pettitte exactly what everyone wearing Yankees pinstripes wanted to hear.
“I’m not going to let them beat me,” Schlittler told Pettitte that October evening, entrusted to carry the Yankees’ season into a winner-take-all Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series.
Pettitte had more to say on his side of the conversation, offering the rookie right-hander a few words from one October pitcher to another. Schlittler listened, nodded and responded with the confidence and conviction that would soon send the Red Sox home.
Schlittler will make that same walk to the mound on Sunday, taking on Boston in a 1:35 p.m. ET series finale at Yankee Stadium. Schlittler remains on turn for his start, even after Saturday's postponement, with Will Warren set to open Monday's series opener at Cleveland.
With Boston in the AL East cellar, it's a game on the schedule that might fall short of postseason stakes. But don’t tell that to the 25-year-old Schlittler, who expects to dominate each time he is handed the ball.
“I feel like I’m pretty confident in myself,” Schlittler told MLB.com. “It’s easy when you have great guys in this locker room to help. It’s early, but ever since I made some adjustments around September last year, I’ve really seen great progress. I trust myself.”
There will always be a little extra juice between Schlittler and the Red Sox. They were his boyhood team, and he frequently envisioned himself standing on the Fenway Park mound while growing up in Walpole, Mass.
Then he played the villain against them, making good on his promise to Pettitte by ending Boston’s season with a stellar 12-strikeout performance.
That outing came with extra motivation. Schlittler later revealed several fans “crossed the line” with social media messages sent to his mother, Christine.
“That just kind of lit the fire a little bit,” Schlittler said. “I was able to go out there and be a little bit more locked in than I usually am.”
Schlittler’s baseline has proven plenty effective. Coming into Sunday’s start with a 7-3 record and 1.89 ERA, Schlittler has opened his first full Major League season as an early contender for the American League Cy Young Award.
“At the end of the day, if I’m going out there and putting my team in a position to win, that’s really all that matters,” Schlittler said. “I think I’m going to thrive in bigger moments, and I’m going to continue to do that throughout the rest of the season.
“The goal is to win a championship, and whatever I can do every five or six days to help lead us to that is really the most important thing.”
Sunday’s assignment against Boston represents an opportunity to bounce back after manager Aaron Boone suggested Schlittler’s stuff was “down just a tick” in his past two outings, including a loss to the Guardians on June 2.
Cleveland knocked him for five runs (four earned) and five hits over 4 1/3 innings, after which Schlittler admitted that he has been thinking too much about his mechanics, particularly his four-seam fastball.
“I went out there a little bit thinking about it,” Schlittler said. “I should just go out there and compete. So it’s all a learning lesson. It’s just making sure that you work on it during the week in the bullpen and get ready for Sunday.”