Yankees tab Cam Schlittler to start Game 1 of wild-card series vs. Red Sox

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Sep 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Common sense prevailed at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, as the club announced that Cam Schlittler will start Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Schlittler is set to become the AL Cy Young, but the Yankees had been debating whether or not to have him start Game 2 to get him some extra rest. Instead, Max Fried will pitch the second game of the series. Gerrit Cole is slated to start a potential do-or-die Game 3.

Schlittler, fresh off his first full big league campaign, has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, going 14-6 with an American League-leading 1.95 ERA, 49 walks and 239 strikeouts over 193 2/3 innings and 33 starts. The righty’s 6.2 fWAR led all AL pitchers, while his 2.56 FIP ranked second.

Schlittler sent his hometown Red Sox packing last October, striking out 12 while twirling eight scoreless innings in Game 3 of the 2025 wild-card series. He then allowed two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALDS, the last game of the Yankees’ 2025 season.

Fried, meanwhile, has endured an injury-riddled second season in the Bronx. The southpaw had to go on the injured list twice for bone bruises in his left elbow, limiting him to 20 starts.

Fried went 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA, 33 walks and 104 strikeouts across 112 2/3 innings overall. He has a 2.73 ERA over five starts since returning from his second IL stint on Aug. 29.

While Fried won a World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, he doesn’t have the strongest postseason track record. He has a 5.31 ERA over 76 1/3 playoff innings, and he surrendered seven earned runs over three innings in Game 2 of last year’s ALDS against the Blue Jays.

Fried did, however, blank the Red Sox for 6 1/3 innings in Game 1 of last year’s wild-card series.

As for Cole, he is 22 big league starts removed from Tommy John surgery, which cost him the entire 2025 season. The right-hander finished the regular season 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA, 25 walks and 131 strikeouts over 127 frames, but he has struggled to get swing-and-miss at times.

The case can be made that Cole has been the Yankees’ fourth-best starter with Carlos Rodón also in the mix and throwing like a frontline arm, but the latter could be relegated to bullpen work in the wild-card series.

Cole has a 2.77 ERA over 133 1/3 postseason innings, but he’s also struggled against the Red Sox throughout his career. He has 5.30 ERA against them over 20 regular season starts, his second-highest ERA vs. any team in baseball.

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