Yankees ace takes brutal shot at Rays ahead of playoff matchup
New York Yankees All-Star starting pitcher Cam Schlittler took a shot at Tampa Bay Rays fans prior to their ALDS matchup on Saturday.
Schlittler, 25, took a couple of trips with the team to Tropicana Field this season, and doesn’t expect home field advantage to make much of a difference during their series.
“I wouldn’t say there’s really too much of an away crowd here,” Schlittler said. “I expect there to be a lot of Yankees fans. So in some ways, you are, to an extent, playing at home.”
Schlittler has a point, as the Rays ranked 28th in MLB in average attendance this year, with an estimated 17,468 fans making their way to the stadium on a game day. The Yankees are on the opposite side of the spectrum, as their average 41,736 fans per game ranks second in MLB.
New York already announced Schlittler as their Game 2 starter on Monday, so he will have to deal with the environment—friendly or not—in Tampa Bay for the second game of the series. He already has a start under his belt this season, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series while striking out 10 batters.
Schlittler made two starts on the road against the Rays this year, and allowed four earned runs through 13 innings for a 2.77 ERA with 16 strikeouts. He made one more start at home towards the end of the year, allowing one earned run through three innings pitched while striking out five batters.
Do the Yankees have the advantage in this series?
Despite Schlittler’s big talk, the Yankees are in a rather precarious situation in the ALDS. Aaron Judge didn’t make the roster for the series after missing the Wild Card Series, and the Rays took a season series win over the Yankees—seven games to six—during the regular season this year.
Schlittler and Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole will look to get their team off to a good start in Florida as they seek a return to the World Series following a heartbreaking loss in the Fall Classic back in 2024.
