New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted Cam Schlittler is still limping after a scary comebacker injury.
The 25-year-old right-hander gutted out six shutout innings Saturday despite the blow, but the morning after wasn’t such great news. The uncertainty surrounding Schlittler’s next start could quickly become a major issue for the Yankees because the rookie right-hander has become one of the club’s most reliable rotation stabilizers as New York battles the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East.
With Gerrit Cole still sidelined, any setback for Schlittler would strain a Yankees rotation that has unexpectedly relied on the second-year right-hander.
Schlittler Struck by 108.5 MPH Comebacker
Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras crushed a 108.5 mph line drive right back up the middle in the bottom of the first inning Saturday, and Schlittler absorbed the full force off the back of his left calf. He immediately clutched the leg and struggled to locate the ball, which dropped directly beneath him, as described by MLB.com‘s Casey Drottar.
Boone and head trainer Tim Lentych rushed to the mound. The warmup pitches that followed were unsettling, with two sailing well above the zone. For a moment, the crowd at American Family Field wondered if Schlittler was done for the night.
But no. Schlittler struck out Jake Bauers on a 98 mph fastball to end the inning, then spent each subsequent half-inning trying to stretch out the leg in the dugout and receiving wrapping on his calf to keep it from tightening. He limped visibly throughout, yet his four-seamer averaged 98.0 mph on the night, above his season average.
“I kept trying to be pretty firm as far as, ‘Tell us the truth — even here and as we go,'” Boone said. “He was more mad at himself for not throwing a strike in the warmup pitches. So that’s why he kept throwing,” according to The New York Post‘s Greg Joyce.
Schlittler finished six innings, allowing just two singles while striking out six without issuing a single walk. The Yankees dropped the game 4-3 in 10 innings.
Schlittler’s Status Raises Next-Start Questions
Sunday morning, Boone told reporters that Schlittler was still sore and walking with a limp, and when pressed directly on whether the calf would affect his next scheduled outing, the manager could not offer reassurances.
“I hope not, but I don’t know,” Boone said, according to MLB.com‘s Drottar.
Schlittler himself shrugged off the injury after the game Saturday, telling reporters he was “not really concerned,” and noting the warmup pitches were more embarrassing than indicative of a real problem. But he also conceded that comebackers keep finding him after he took one off his quad just a week earlier. Schlittler expressed hope for a quieter stretch ahead.
“I let up a lot of balls up the middle. They’re just finding me right now. Hopefully I can get a breather next week,” according to a The New York Post account.
Schlittler leads all qualified major league pitchers with a 1.35 ERA through nine starts, ranks second in WHIP at 0.806, and has posted four scoreless outings of five-plus innings this season, according to CBS Sports. He boasts a 5-1 record with 59 strikeouts across 53.1 innings. Those numbers make the 25-year-old an AL Cy Young Award candidate, at least in the early going.
Yankees Fear Cam Schlittler Injury Could Impact Next Start