Schlittler Delivers, Brings Tears to Parents' Eyes in Debut Win

The hope was that Schlittler’s top-end velocity partners with his huge breaking ball could lead to a lot of strikeouts. One start in, that is absolutely the case.

Seven strikeouts in 5 ⅓ innings tells me he has everything he needs to generate a ton of swing-and-misses. He even recorded the first K of his career by freezing MLB’s home run leader. Cal Raleigh. A 100 mph heater got by so fast that Raleigh could not even get the bat off his shoulder.

While there were way more positives than negatives, it was not smooth-sailing every inning for Schlittler. J.P. Crawford and Jorge Polanco each took him deep, and the third earned run he allowed was the runner he left on the bases when he came out of the game.

One of the best parts about guys making their debut is seeing the emotion and joy from all the family and friends up in the stands. Schlittler had 23 seats saved for supporters, none happier than his parents, John and Christine. The shot of them after their son completed his first major league inning was perfect.

Last night should make Yankees fans feel good. I know they are still chasing the Blue Jays and Volpe is playing terribly, but that was a fun night. A guy achieved his life’s goal in front of his family, and was throwing 100 mph in a win while doing it.

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