NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice both hail from Massachusetts, but more importantly for the New York Yankees, they are exceptional baseball talents.
On Tuesday in Game 1 of the 2026 wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox, both players delivered outstanding performances. Schlittler pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 10, while Rice went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs. The Yankees dominated their longtime rivals with a 9-0 victory, putting them just one win away from reaching the ALDS to face the Tampa Bay Rays.
Throughout this beautiful autumn evening in the Bronx, Schlittler took center stage. This marked the second straight postseason in which the right-handed fireballer from New York’s youth treated his team harshly. The frontrunner for the AL Cy Young allowed only two hits—one to the second batter and one to the last—and apart from a fifth-inning walk to Jarren Duran, he was near perfect.
Schlittler’s success came largely thanks to a heavy arsenal of 32 curveballs—12 more than he’s ever thrown in an MLB start—combined with his fast pace kept Red Sox hitters off balance and resulted in 24 strikeouts swinging. The dominance was so profound that outfielders Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, and Heliot Ramos only had to field one ball each while he was on the mound.
“It’s insane, bro,” Jones said after the game. “I’m ready to make plays, but with Cam, I barely have to think about anything. I caught one fly ball and that’s it.” Ramos chimed in humorously, saying, “It’s kind of boring sometimes. Like, is it time to go home yet?”
None of the fans—or Red Sox hitters—were surprised to witness Schlittler’s brilliance. Throughout the season, he has overwhelmed opponents with triple-digit fastballs, multiple fastball variations, a devastating curve, and an aggressive mindset fueled by intensity. His velocity routinely hitting 101 mph barely raised an eyebrow. But when he took the mound in the seventh inning, having already thrown 107 pitches, the crowd erupted unexpectedly with cheers.
He finished after 117 pitches—the most by a Yankee in a postseason start since CC Sabathia’s 2012 ALDS outing. Nowadays, starters rarely exceed 100 pitches due to the combination of high velocity and deep bullpen arms. In fact, the only other 117-pitch playoff start since 2019 was Garrett Crochet’s wild-card performance against the Yankees last year at the same ballpark.
While Crochet’s outing silenced the crowd, Schlittler’s sparked thunderous excitement.
“Every time he goes out there, he’s super confident,” catcher Austin Wells said. “Two years in a row, he’s been great against them in the playoffs. That’s just who he is.”
Before Tuesday’s game, it was clear Boston planned to fight off Schlittler by working deep counts and prolonging at-bats. Red Sox manager Chad Tracy expressed this approach, hoping to tire out the pitcher early and exploit New York’s bullpen. After all, Schlittler had one of the highest rates of foul balls induced among qualified starters this year. If the Sox could drag him out by the fifth inning, they believed they could take advantage against lesser arms.
The plan initially seemed to work when catcher Adley Rutschman battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before sneaking a single into left field. But Schlittler kept firing heat past a series of overmatched batters. By the time Boston managed a clean inning against a reliever, they were staring at a four-run deficit with only six outs remaining.
Much of the big lead came thanks to Rice. He blasted a solo homer to center field in the fifth inning, doubled the Yankees’ lead to two, later added a single to bring in another run, and capped his night with a grand slam into the right-field bullpen in the eighth inning—sending Yankee Stadium into a frenzy.
There has been plenty of buzz about Rice’s and Schlittler’s Massachusetts roots, Rice’s childhood Yankees fandom despite growing up near Fenway, and Schlittler fueling his competitive fire with social media barbs at Red Sox fans. However, the real story is how these late-round draft picks from smaller schools have blossomed into game-changing stars. Schlittler was selected in the seventh round from Northeastern, and Rice went in the 12th round out of Dartmouth. Meanwhile, nobody in the Boston clubhouse cared about their New England birthplaces after being bested.
When asked about their shared Massachusetts background postgame, Yankees manager Boone shifted focus to their draft positions. “Not two top picks obviously, but with strong Massachusetts ties—that’s been a storyline. For them to deliver that performance together to kick off the postseason is something special.”
Schlittler echoed that sentiment: “Mid-round guys … having the confidence that comes with that, working harder to get here and embracing it together—it’s special.”
Their success underscores the prowess of the Yankees’ scouting and player development systems. Every MLB team had the opportunity to acquire Schlittler and Rice, yet the Yankees identified and nurtured them. Despite the team’s financial might, homegrown talent remains a cornerstone of their sustained excellence. The evaluators and coaches who discovered and refined these players likely care little that they grew up near Fenway.
Talent is talent, regardless of origin. If you can play, you can succeed.
And these two certainly can play.
—
Fan Take: This dominant showing by two homegrown mid-round picks highlights the critical importance of scouting and player development in modern baseball. It’s a reminder that game-changing stars can come from anywhere, inspiring hope and excitement for the future of the sport.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
