Yankees Announce Starting Pitchers for Playoff Series vs. Red Sox amid Schlittler-Fried Debate

The New York Yankees are turning to Cy Young Award hopeful Cam Schlittler to start the first game of the 2026 postseason.

Schlittler has been tabbed to start Game 1 of the Yankees' Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox, per ESPN's Jorge Castillo.

The Yankees will then turn to Max Fried for Game 2 and Gerrit Cole for Game 3 if necessary, per Castillo.

The Yankees are set to begin their upcoming series against the Red Sox Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

The series will resume Wednesday and, if necessary, continue Thursday.

Should the Yankees advance to the ALDS, the club is scheduled to begin the series with away games the following Saturday and Monday.

Right-handed Schlittler last pitched three innings Sept. 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He finished the season with a 1.95 ERA, the lowest from any Yankees pitcher since 1978.

Fried, a southpaw, last pitched 6.2 innings Sept. 22, also against the Rays, on his way to a 2.80 season-long ERA.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said last Thursday Fried was "obviously in heavy consideration" to start Game 1, in part to give Schlittler more time between outings, per Hoch.

"Max is on extended rest, and Cam would be on his third five day in a row," Blake said Thursday, per Hoch. "So just making sure he's in a good spot before we make any rash decisions."

Fried has held Red Sox batters to a .146 batting average and .473 OPS in two starts this season, while the rival club batted .174 with a .560 OPS against Schlittler.

The Yankees dropped Game 1 of the ALDS to the Red Sox last fall with Fried starting, then came back to win the series behind starts from Carlos Rodón and Schlittler.

Last season marked just the third time since the Wild Card round was introduced in 2020 a club recovered from losing Game 1 to advance to the divisional series. The Yankees will now hope Schlittler can help his club avoid the need for another comeback next week.