The rivalry between Cam Schlittler and Boston was already personal since the New York Yankees rookie pitcher had single-handedly ended the Red Sox’s season. So when Schlittler’s own season came to a halt, his hometown rivals were waiting with a perfect response. The story started with some classic twists.
Schlittler grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts, and played college basketball at Northeastern University in Boston. But in 2022, the Yankees drafted him, and he later claimed he had converted his family of die-hard Sox fans into “full Yankee guys.” But the story reached its climax in the deciding Game 3 of the Wild Card series this season.
Schlittler, who was already slated for the game, claimed Red Sox fans had “crossed a line” by harassing his mother online. Twenty minutes before the first pitch, he texted his family, “I’ll go kick their a**.” And he did that.
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The rookie pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 batters with zero walks. He was even caught on camera mouthing “F— Boston” before leaving the mound and later trolled the fanbase on social media, posting “Drinking dat dirty water,” mocking Boston’s victory song. He basically fully embraced his role as the villain.
The Toronto Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs. And in a moment of poetic justice, Cam Schlittler was the losing pitcher in that season-ending game. So, with the Yankees officially out, the Red Sox organization didn’t miss a beat in seeing the opening. The New England Sports Network (NESN), the Red Sox’s own television network, posted on their X: “Hey @Cam32Schlittler heard you’re free to watch the Bruins now! Hope you got a ticket already, it’s a little packed 😉.”
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After eliminating Boston, Schlittler said, “I told them that’s exactly what was going to happen. They’ll get over it. Hockey season is coming up, basketball season is coming up. So I’m sure they got other things to distract them.”
Now, with his own season over, this tweet was a masterful piece of trolling. And Schlittler, a Boston sports fan at heart, had immediately pivoted after the Yankees’ elimination. And he said to Boston fans, “Start preparing for the Bruins szn homie,” changed his Twitter profile picture to the Boston Bruins logo, and posted a picture of TD Garden with the caption “Next stop #Bruins.”
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After the playful trolling and fan reactions subsided, it was easy to forget that behind the viral moment stood a promising young arm making his mark in the majors.
What about Cam Schlittler, the pitcher?
While his season ended badly, Cam Schlittler’s rookie campaign was a massive success. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs in the elimination game against Toronto. It wasn’t the historic performance he had against Boston. But it was decent compared to what the other starter has done during the series. And the 24-year-old posted a 4-3 record in his 14 starts with an impressive 2.96 ERA and striking out 84 batters in just 73 innings.
And the Yankees organization clearly sees him as a huge part of their future. Manager Aaron Boone called the rookie “a future staple of our rotation.” He noted that the front office considers him to remain untouched, along with infielder George Lombard Jr. and outfielder Spencer Jones. “I knew it was going to be really hard for our guys to trade him,” Boone said. “I’m sure they would have had to have been overwhelmed.”
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So, with Schlittler locked in, the Yankees’ 2026 rotation looks formidable. Max Fried and Carlos Rodón will likely lead it, and Schlittler will provide depth behind them. And the returns of injured aces Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt will make the group even stronger.
In the end, the rivalry between Cam Schlittler and Boston has added a fresh chapter to baseball’s oldest rivalry. Hopefully, we can see more on and off-field drama in this rivalry in the near future, as Schlittler has already secured his spot in the rotation.