When the Boston Red Sox began their four-game series against the rival New York Yankees on June 25, the season was in the pits. The club was 32-46, coming off a brutal series loss in Colorado, and seemingly heading toward the American League’s cellar. That June 25 game was the third time this season, however, that they faced Cam Schlittler, who’s been embroiled in a rivalry with essentially the city of Boston since last year’s AL Wild Card series. And it also became the first time the Red Sox won while facing Schlittler. Oh, it also started a run of 41-14, the best record in baseball by 6.5 games since that date.
Boston eventually swept the Yankees, which spearheaded their resurgence throughout the summer. Now, entering a four-game series in the Bronx, the Red Sox will be just a couple games back of their rivals. And lo and behold, it’ll be Schlittler on the bump for New York in the series opener on Friday, a start he was not initially slated to make, but was pushed back to line up with Boston. That move alone from New York has — at least some — Red Sox fans convinced that the Yankees are scared.
Red Sox fans believe the team is in the rival Yankees’, Cam Schlittler’s heads
Whether or not there is a mental edge between the Red Sox, Schlittler and the Yankees is irrelevant. The narrative all but writes itself at this point. After all, it was in a July 16 piece from Chris Kirschner of The Athletic ($) that the AL Cy Young favorite didn’t mince words about how little he was concerned about Boston:
“They can say whatever they want,” Schlittler said. “But they’re not really in a position to be talking, considering how the standings are. Whatever they want to say, it’s just kind of useless. It just goes in one ear and out the other.”
Well, the standings have flipped wildly now, with the Red Sox having a chance to overtake the Yankees in the weekend’s four-game set, which would start with getting another win over Schlittler.
For what it’s worth, the body of work for Schlittler against the Red Sox is phenomenal. In four starts, including a 12-strikeout shutout over eight innings in the AL Wild Card last year, Schlittler has posted an 0.68 ERA across 26.2 innings with 31 punchouts. He’s only given up two earned runs, though it should also be noted that the four runs he gave up in the June 25 loss were scored as unearned.
Having said that, moving his start back to Friday signals that the Yankees absolutely recognize that the Red Sox are a legitimate threat. Fans (and infamous social media trolls/needlers such as KutterIsKing) are going to take that narrative and run with it. “The Yankees are scared.”
Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. But it’s quite clear that they’re maneuvering to adjust for the rival Red Sox to come to town. That alone shows just how drastically things have turned around — and how things could only continue to turn in favor of Boston over the final month of the regular season with a potential (and perhaps likely) AL Wild Card rematch looming.
The Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball and reinforcements are coming
What the Red Sox have done to chase down the Yankees in the wild card standings has been a true collective effort. Yes, the big names like Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and even Caleb Durbin have stepped up for the offense, but it’s just as equally been role players like Anthony Siegler, Mickey Gasper and Nick Sogard, among others. Of course, the pitching has also been elite over this run as well.
But the part that should actually scare the Yankees is that this team is almost surely only going to get better.
Roman Anthony may be the first big return, as his ongoing rehab assignment and success in the minors seemingly line him up to return to the Red Sox lineup on Friday against Schlittler. Curtis Mead got a good follow-up report, is out of his cast after sufferiing a broken wrist, and could return mid-September. Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa should return soon. Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten are close to returning in the bullpen. And there’s a chance that Garrett Crochet comes back to help in some capacity down the stretch.
Obviously, we can’t predict the future and say how all of these returnees will contribute to Boston. But on paper, these are all additions to the roster that will make the Red Sox even more dangerous than they’ve been over a 41-14 run. And it should be noted ahead of this rivalry series that the Yankees have been decisively average at 27-26 (entering Thursday) over that span.
It’s impossible to say just how much “fearing” the Red Sox led to the Yankees’ decision to move Schlittler’s start back. Red Sox fans are sure to run with that, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It’s a pivotal series that they want their best for.
The one thing that does feel certain, however, is that Boston is giving their rivals plenty of reasons to worry about them now.
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