We might be watching one of the most interesting individual stories in MLB in recent years regarding Cam Schlittler. That's because the 25-year-old in his second season is the AL Cy Young favorite for the New York Yankees, a team he grew up despising as a devout Red Sox fan from Boston. Tonight, the righty makes his second career big-league start at Fenway Park, and it should be a fun atmosphere with a 7:10 p.m. ET first pitch against excellent Red Sox rookie Connelly Early.
Yankees vs. Red Sox MLB same-game parlay
- Boston alt +2.5
- No Runs First Inning
DraftKings SGP price: +140
Not too long ago, any Yankees-Red Sox series opener would be something I would have written about in some forum at either CBS Sports or SportsLine, but there's no doubt the rivalry has lost luster in recent years. That is mostly Boston's fault, because the Red Sox have finished with a winning record just once in the past four seasons. That was last season, when they did get into the postseason but were beaten in three games by New York in the AL Wild Card Series.
Sitting at 32-46, last in the AL East and six games out of the AL's final WC spot, the playoffs are a pipe dream for the 2026 Red Sox. The SportsLine Projection Model only gives them a 4.9% shot, while DraftKings has them at +900 â which equates to a 10% chance. The early season managerial change hasn't much mattered with Boston 10-17 under Alex Cora and 22-29 under interim manager Chad Tracy (so he probably won't be getting the full-time gig).
This franchise will be selling ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, with closer Aroldis Chapman probably the surest thing to be dealt. The southpaw is having a great season and could even return to the Yankees, although there are some hard feelings there from a previous stint in New York. And the Red Sox won't want to help their rivals without them overpaying in any deal. More likely, Chapman will be going to Philadelphia or the L.A. Dodgers, or Seattle or Chicago.
One bright spot this year undoubtedly has been the lefty Early, who is 6-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 15 starts and +7000 to win AL Rookie of the Year. If you had bet on all 15 of his starts on Boston to win, you would be down $346. The 24-year-old ended a three-start losing streak last Saturday in Seattle, allowing one run and two hits over six.
The key is to watch Early immediately. His two previous starts both began with first-pitch homers, and that Seattle start began with a walk and a hit. Early got a quick visit from catcher Carlos Narvaez to settle him down, and it worked. The Mariners' two hits tied the fewest Early has allowed in a start his career, and his seven strikeouts and his 13 swings-and-misses were second-bests this season.
"Sometimes when the game is a little fast, you start thinking too much," Narvaez said to MLB.com about Early. "Just trying to bring him back ⦠and just remind him how good he is."
There is definitely a real thing known as the "Coors Field Hangover" for teams coming off series in Denver, so to help Early deal with that, the Red Sox flew him and fellow rookie starter Payton Tolle, who goes Friday, home a day early (pun intended) on Tuesday. Early lost at home to the Yankees on April 21, allowing three runs and five hits over 5.1 innings.
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Obviously, there is a long way to go, but the AL Cy Young race right now is only two deep in Schlittler (+100) and Toronto's Dylan Cease (+230). Schlittler, who grew up in Walpole about 40 miles from Fenway, said that Red Sox fans troll him "every week ... every day."
Sadly, Schlittler and his family got some death threats before his first start at Fenway on April 23, but he responded to that in spectacular fashion in a 4-2 victory, allowing one earned and four hits over eight innings. It was his only time going past the seventh this season. The public address announcement of Schlitter as New York's starting pitcher drew a mixture of cheers and boos, and he said the heckling wasn't too bad.
He has faced the Sox since then at Yankee Stadium, taking a no-decision on June 7 in surrendering a run and four hits over 5.2 innings. And Schlittler enters off his best start of the season via game score of 77.0 as he blanked the Reds on four hits with a career-high 13 strikeouts last Friday at Yankee Stadium.
In his 30th major-league start, Schlittler easily surpassed his previous high of nine strikeouts. At 25 years, 134 days, he became the youngest Yankees pitcher with 13 strikeouts since Al Downing whiffed 13 against the White Sox on June 21, 1964. The model forecasts Schlittler at 6.2 innings, 6.6 strikeouts, 4.9 hits allowed and 1.7 earned runs. DraftKings prices him at -106 to win and Over/Under 6.5 strikeouts and 17.5 outs recorded.
This will likely be Schlittler's last start at Fenway until at least the 2026 regular season, as the only series remaining between these rivals following the weekend is in late August in the Bronx.
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Records usually don't matter in this series and the Fenway Faithful will be quite boisterous to bother Schlittler so I don't sense a New York blowout win coming. And let's just go with NRFI and get half that parlay leg ideally cashed immediately. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
