Yankees ace Cam Schlittler is keeping his recent rivalry feud top of mind heading into the Wild Card Series against Boston.
Schlittler, who grew up a Red Sox fan in Massachusetts, made headlines since the 2025 Wild Card Series for clapping back at outside noise directed at him, specifically from fans and Boston-based media outlets. However, during Monday’s media availability ahead of the upcoming Wild Card Series opener, the Game 1 starter relayed that he’s now using that noise as fuel for his fire.
“I wouldn’t say I’m always on my phone looking for that stuff. At the same time, I don’t really live under a rock as well, so I find ways to use that to my advantage. I think I’m good at keeping receipts, and at the end of the day, I’m locked in to go in there tomorrow and do my job.”
Red Sox fans have been very sour towards Schlittler since he dominated the Red Sox in the 2025 Wild Card Series, throwing eight scoreless innings and striking out 12 during the 4-0 shutout win that advanced the Yankees to the ALDS against the Blue Jays. The most bitter fans even went as far as harassing members of Schlittler’s family on social media.
When the Yankees traveled to Fenway earlier this season, it was clear Red Sox fans were still lingering in their own spite. Schlittler was captured dodging objects as he was warming up before throwing for eight scoreless innings once again.
The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner revealed in July that New York Yankees director of organizational performance Chad Bohling showed Schlittler a clip from “Baseball is Dead,” an MLB podcast hosted by Boston content creator Jared Carrabis, before making his start in the 5-1 win against the Rays on July 6th. The personalities in the clip claim that the 25-year-old starter was regressing after giving up six earned runs and four homers in the 9-3 loss to the Tigers on June 30th.
The drama hit headlines once again after Carrabis’ podcast, “Section 10,” recapped the most recent rivalry series when the Yankees took three of four games. Rusey, a woman who was featured on the podcast in a rant session, took shots at Schlittler, calling him ugly and saying that “he literally did jack sh—,” despite pitching a scoreless 5.2 innings against Boston.
Schlittler, in a petty fashion, reportedly shared a distasteful answer to the comment on social media. It’s since been deleted, but not before it was circulated across all platforms. After taking two of three against the Angels in the following series, Schlittler shared an image of an emoji with glasses, seemingly taking another shot at the podcast in a more subtle manner.
For the sake of the drama, and to let Red Sox fans stay mad, it’s going to be fun seeing how Schlittler responds when the rivalry comes to a head. However, it’d also be nice to see him take the high road and stay humbly silent if history repeats itself and he dominates Boston once again.
Schlittler will face Payton Tolle in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in the Bronx on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.
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