If at the beginning of the Major League Baseball season we had been told that the Yankees and Red Sox would play the most important game of 2025 with two rookie pitchers as starters, we would surely think it was a crazy idea. But baseball has many twists and turns and this Thursday, in the third and decisive game of the Wild Card Series, the two American League giants will rely on two guys who do not even reach 20 starts together in MLB.
Right-hander Cam Schlittler and left-hander Connelly Early will take the mound for New York and Boston, respectively, in a clash that will determine the Toronto Blue Jays’ opponent in the Division Series. Both pitchers made their debuts in 2025 late in the season, confirming that their presence in this important game is an emergency plan.
The Yankees have seen important arms fall this season such as Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Yarbrough, and they released Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman. In addition, Luis Gil, the 2024 Rookie of the Year, started the campaign late due to serious physical discomfort.
In Boston, things have not been much different. Hunter Dobbins, Tanner Houck and Richard Fitts were injured, while Walker Buehler was released. To make matters worse, Lucas Giolito, projected as the Red Sox’s third starter for the Wild Card Series, was sidelined with elbow soreness.
A golden opportunity
At the end of July, Connelly Early was pitching in Double-A and in early September he struck out 10 in his last Triple-A outing. This rapid rise had an even more exciting episode when the Red Sox called him up to the majors for a start on September 9. In less than a month and a half, the left-hander had climbed through the two most difficult levels of the Minors.
His first MLB presentation broke the mold. Against Oakland, he struck out 11 opponents and equaled the record for most strikeouts by a Boston rookie in his first start, held by Don Aase since 1977. In September, he also had time to make four starts in which he was never allowed more than two runs or five hits.
In Red Sox history, only Dave Morehead (in 1963) and Aaron Sele (1993) had managed four consecutive starts at the beginning of their careers without allowing more than two runs and more than five hits.
With those credentials, Early has earned the opportunity to start the most important game of the year for Boston. With Giolito injured, manager Alex Cora had no hesitation in choosing the 23-year-old, who will face a lineup with several world-class players such as Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger.
“I’m super excited. I feel really good about this opportunity and I’m ready to go out there,” the left-hander told MLB.com. He posted a 2.33 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 19.1 innings of work, for a very high rate of 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
I’m super excited. I feel really good about this opportunity and I’m ready to go out there
His teammates have praised his calmness and serenity, something not very common in young pitchers who are usually very impetuous on the field.
Schlittler, a balm for the Yankees
At the beginning of July, Cam Schlittler was also in the Minor Leagues without offering his best face. In fact, on July 2 he made a start of 2.1 innings in which he allowed seven hits and the same number of runs, six of them earned. At that time no one could have imagined that a week later he would be on the mound at Yankee Stadium pitching 5.1 innings against Seattle at a pace of seven strikeouts and three runs.
Since then, Schlittler has had a tremendous journey through the Majors, with 14 starts, a 2.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings of work. He also gave up 31 walks, for a rate of 3.8 per nine innings, but was able to overcome those control difficulties and went at least five innings in 11 of his appearances.
With a powerful arsenal (32% of his pitches have exceeded 98 mph and he has reached triple digits several times), the right-hander has been a balm for Aaron Boone and the Yankees in the midst of the injury plague. Against the Red Sox, a team he has not yet faced, he will have a special test because he grew up in Boston.
The boy was born and raised in Walpole, Massachusetts, and was always a Red Sox fan, but the Yankees drafted him in 2022 and his life changed. Now he has to face the team of his childhood, which even his family has turned its back on for more than obvious reasons.
Read the full article here
