Boston Red Sox fans' relationship with Cam Schlittler was never going to be positive. The pitcher grew up a Red Sox fan in Massachusetts before he was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2022 — Boston fans will always see that as akin to treachery, despite Schlittler's inability to choose the club that wound up with him.
The rivalry has taken Schlittler and his childhood baseball fanbase to some strange places, particularly because the young righty can't seem to block out the noise. Boston fans aren't an easy group to ignore, but the Yankees have played a part in taking their beef to a new level.
According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, the Yankees show Schlittler videos before each start he makes, including some of Red Sox personality Jared Carrabis of the "Baseball is Dead" and "Seciton 10" podcasts. Carrabis commented on Schlittler's six-run outing against the Detroit Tigers (one rotation cycle after the Red Sox beat him at Fenway) and New York used it to motivate Schlittler (subscrption required).
“They can say whatever they want, but they’re not really in a position to be talking, considering how the standings are. Whatever they want to say, it’s just kind of useless. It just goes in one ear and out the other,” Schlittler said of Red Sox fans.
Cam Schlittler's beef with Red Sox fans continues after corny truth emerges about his pregame routine
The comments obviously don't go in one ear and out the other as fast as Schlittler says if he uses them to rile himself up before games. Admitting Carrabis is in his head like that is not the flex he thinks it is, even if he can deliver on the mound afterward. Carrabis has also taken Schlittler's statement as a point of pride.
The standings comment doesn't hit the way he wants, either. In the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, Boston has clawed its way up to half a game out of the third Wild Card spot, sweeping New York in four games on the way there. Beating the Yankees was the start of the Red Sox's upswing, as it has been before, with Schlittler's June 25 outing at the start of it all.
There's no argument that Schlittler's season has been better than Boston's by every measure — he earned his first career All-Star nomination and he's the leader in the American League Cy Young race with a 2.05 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 137 strikeouts over 118.2 innings of work. But a confident player would let their body of work speak for itself rather than giving rival fans credit as his source of motivation.
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