Sitting at his locker inside the Yankees’ clubhouse, Cam Schlittler hunched his 6-6 frame over and stared straight down into the screen of an iPad on Wednesday afternoon.
The 24-year-old right-hander was studying scouting reports hours before his big league debut, but he didn’t stay in place for long.
A few minutes later, Schlitter ventured into the Yankees’ dugout, where he took a phone call. From there, he wandered in and around the clubhouse, almost as if he didn’t know how to navigate his new surroundings.
Once he took the mound, however, Schlittler hardly looked lost. With a first-inning strikeout of MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh and a sizzling fastball that hit 100 mph, the Yankees’ top pitching prospect made it clear the he belonged from the get-go.
“He was nasty today,” Jasson Domínguez said after Schlittler totaled three earned runs, four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings against the Mariners. The performance earned him his first big league win in a 9-6 Yankees victory.
Schlittler also became just the 10th pitcher in franchise history to record 7+ strikeouts in their MLB debut.
“He was sick,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr., who hit two homers in the game.
While pitchers and position players typically share real estate in the clubhouse, Schlittler received the spare locker next to Chisholm’s. Prior to the game, Chisholm told the rookie that the Yankees had his back, and that he just needed to play the same game he always has.
Asked if Schlittler appeared calm, Chisholm said, “I mean, his cheeks was red, so I don’t know how calm that is.”
“Nah, he did a great job,” Chisholm continued. “It looked like he was very calm on the mound, and he kept his composure with a couple things.”
Schlittler, pitching in front of his parents, girlfriend and about 20 other friends and family members, admitted to feeling some “jitters” on Wednesday morning. However, those subsided by the time he stepped on the field. It helped that he was able to get his feet wet on Tuesday, showing up to Yankee Stadium as a member of the taxi squad.
“Even before getting drafted, the goal is to play professional baseball, and I definitely wanted to be a Yankee,” he said despite growing up a Red Sox fan. “So it’s a dream come true.”
While Schlittler wasn’t perfect — he surrendered home runs to J.P Crawford and Jorge Polanco — his outing earned him the Yankees’ wrestling-style Player of the Game belt, which they hand out after wins. He also received a standing ovation from the Bronx crowd when Aaron Boone pulled him from the game.
“I don’t think I’ve really processed it yet, but I think coming out and everyone standing up was definitely a great feeling,” said Schlittler, who was only promoted to Triple-A a few weeks ago. “It’s loud. It’s really loud, so it feels really good.”
Schlittler added that he has possession of the ball that Raleigh struck out on in the first, as it was the first punchie of his young career. He planned on giving it to his parents so that they could put it in his room back home in Walpole, Mass.
With effortless heat at his disposal, more strikeouts are coming for Schlittler. He won’t have to wait long, as Boone made it known that the flame-thrower will get another opportunity following a glove-popping debut and a few injuries to the Yankees’ rotation.
“Look, it’s his first start,” the manager said. “He’s going to make another one now. I see a lot of potential.”
Boone first took note of Schlittler in spring training, as the pitcher was a first-time invitee to big league camp. He wasn’t throwing as hard then, but Schlittler’s fastball stood out the most to the skipper on Wednesday. Boone was also impressed with the 2022 seventh-round pick’s secondary arsenal, which Schlittler only recently revamped to include a cutter.
“You see his stuff really plays,” Boone said. “And I thought just his calm and his poise and focus were excellent.”
Boone added that he believes Schlittler’s size factors into the way batters see his pitches. He’s looking forward to that theory being tested some more with Schlittler’s major league career now underway.
“He’s absolutely the guy that’s put up the numbers and done the work here in these first few months now at the higher levels to get this opportunity,” Boone said. “It’s because he’s got a big arm, and he continues to get better.”
