One reason why? New York was countering Milwaukee with its own flamethrower in Cam Schlittler.
“Obviously we saw a great fastball last night on the other side with Misiorowski,” Boone said before Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to the Brewers in 10 innings. “They’re going to see one tonight from Cam.”
Boone knew Schlittler was going to unleash plenty of heat against the Brewers. What he didn’t know was that his young phenom would be able to do so while pitching on a bum leg.
Schlittler spent the majority of his start throwing through throbbing pain after taking a 108.5 mph comebacker off the back of his left calf in the first inning. The discomfort he was feeling throughout the night was apparent to everyone at American Family Field.
So, too, was his ability to string together a masterful start despite it.
Schlittler grinded through six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits while lowering his ERA to 1.35 and never losing his trademark velocity despite whatever agony he was experiencing. That he was consistently limping to and from the Yankees’ dugout did little to stop him from putting together his latest gem in a season full of them.
“He’s a stud,” Boone said. “He’s just a great competitor, and obviously a great pitcher. … He settled in and obviously pitched awesome.”
The right-hander breezed through the first two hitters of the night before William Contreras scorched a liner right back to the mound. As Schlittler turned away from it, the ball struck him directly in the back of his calf. He essentially absorbed the entire impact as the ball fell directly below him to the point where he initially couldn’t locate it.
Boone and the training staff immediately came out to the mound, and Schlittler’s first few warmup pitches were all well above the strike zone.
“I kept trying to be pretty firm as far as, ‘Tell us the truth,’” Boone said. “He was just more mad at himself for not throwing a strike in the warmup pitches. That’s why he kept throwing it.”
Schlittler stayed in the game, erasing any concerns his wayward warmup might’ve prompted by striking out Jake Bauers to end the inning.
To say Schlittler shook the moment off would be a misstatement, though. He moved gingerly throughout the night, and he could be seen lightly bouncing on the mound between pitches in order to stay loose. He had his leg wrapped before the second inning, and he spent much of his time in the dugout doing exercises to ensure the calf didn’t tighten up on him.
“He knew I would’ve called him soft if he would’ve came out of the game, so he tried to stay in,” second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. joked. “He did a good job staying in there. … He’s a tough kid, and I think he’s going to be a star in this game for a long time.”
Even though the outing was clearly a grind for Schlittler, no one so much as stirred in the bullpen until he wrapped his night after the sixth. He was somehow still able to routinely hit high 90s with his fastballs. His four-seamer averaged 98.0 mph, up 0.1 mph from his season average. He finished the night throwing 97 pitches, 68 for strikes.
“I think it actually helped me get the fastball where I needed to get it,” Schlittler said. “I wasn’t too worried out there about how that was going to affect me.”
Don’t get him wrong. Schlittler was quick to admit he was in some pain afterward, noticeably limping through the Yankees’ clubhouse.
But he still left the night having allowed no more than one run for the fifth consecutive start. It’d be an impressive performance under normal circumstances.
Schlittler just so happened to pull it off while at times barely being able to stand.
“He did a tremendous job,” Contreras said. “He did a great job just being able to [continue in the game]. … We know the caliber pitcher he’s able to be. [To do it] even after that line drive is a tremendous credit to him.”