Cam Schlittler dazzles in Fenway homecoming as Yankees break out brooms

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Apr 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — The last time Cam Schlittler pitched at Fenway Park, he wore a Red Sox uniform.

With a crimson batting practice jersey, white pants and a stylized “B” on his cap, the childhood Red Sox fan took the same mound that some of his favorites, including Clay Buchholz and Chris Sale, once worked off of. This was back when Schlittler was a senior at nearby Walpole High School. A standout there, he was invited to pitch in an annual amateur showcase for prospects from the Northeast region, which Yankees area scout Matt Hyde helps organize.

“Growing up a Red Sox fan, it was definitely really cool,” Schlittler said earlier this week, adding that he threw a clean inning. “It was a great experience.”

Dubbed the Kelly Rodman Memorial Summer Rivalry Classic, the game pits a Yankees-branded team against a Red Sox-branded team. John Kosciak, who previously scouted George Springer, another New Englander, for the Astros, recommended to Hyde that Schlittler play in the game.

“Kos really thought there was a lot of projection to him and upside, and so we had him come,” Hyde said Thursday at Fenway. “It kind of started the history with him.”

Hyde, who convinced the Yankees to use a seventh-round pick on Schlittler in 2022, was in Boston on Thursday to see the right-hander make his first major league start at Fenway Park. He wasn’t the only one eager to watch the homecoming, as Schlittler’s cheering section also included his parents, John and Christine; a handful of friends; his college coach, Northeastern’s Mike Glavine; some current Huskies players; and Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ vice president of domestic amateur scouting.

That group got what it wanted, as Schlittler dazzled for eight innings in a 4-2, series-sweeping win for the Yankees.

Offensively, the Bombers were boosted by Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s first home run of the year — a fifth-inning solo shot around the Pesky Pole — and a go-ahead, two-run, seventh-inning, pinch-hit single from Cody Bellinger. Aaron Judge added an RBI single in the seventh for good measure, as well.

Schlittler, meanwhile, totaled four hits, two runs (one earned), one walk and five strikeouts over 96 pitches. His velocity maxed out at 99.4 mph, and he registered 11 whiffs while using a five-pitch mix. Five of those came off his cutter.

The only major mistakes Schlittler made came on a second-inning double from Marcelo Mayer, which followed a throwing error from Amed Rosario, and a fifth-inning, bases-empty blast from Carlos Narváez. That was the first home run Schlittler, who now has a 1.77 ERA, allowed this season.

Adding to the hype on Thursday was Schlittler’s prior history with the Red Sox and a fanbase he was once part of.

Last October, he sent the Sox home with a dominant performance in Game 3 of the wild-card series. He and his family were harassed by the Boston faithful before and after that game. With Schlittler adding some trash talk of his own in the hours, days and weeks that followed, the vitriol hasn’t stopped in the months since. Schlittler even said this past week that he’s received death threats online.

However, Schlittler never seemed bothered by the off-field noise, and the Yankees had plenty of reason to think he’d keep his composure on the field Thursday.

“There were plenty of distractions to be had before his playoff start last year,” Aaron Boone said pregame, “and he obviously handled that really well.”

But what was expected to be an antagonistic crowd seemed rather tame on Thursday with the Red Sox having already lost the first two games of the series in uncompetitive fashion. Schlittler appeared to get through his warmups in the bullpen, where fans can be on top of players, without incident, and Judge received louder boos during pregame introductions.

Schlittler even heard some cheers in a building that he used to frequent as a kid.

Even though the atmosphere wasn’t as rowdy as anticipated, Thursday still marked a dream come true for Schlittler, who once fantasized about a career in Boston. Of course, that’s not the way things shook out.

Schlittler and the Yankees can thank Hyde, among others, for that.

“It’s a rewarding part of the job when you watch a guy progress from an amateur player to a professional and then onto the biggest stage,” the scout said. “So to get to see him do this here tonight, basically in his backyard, it’s a lot of fun.”