The Red-Hot Yankees Are Getting Electric Starting Pitching

The Yankees' quest for their first World Series crown since 2009 unraveled with a bad defensive inning in the 2024 Fall Classic against the Dodgers. Last season the road ended abruptly as Aaron Boone's pitching staff proved completely incapable of dealing with the Blue Jays in a lopsided American League division series dud. A legacy of success, plus a huge payroll and some recent playoff pain, means that New York's seasons will always be judged by one metric. It's all or nothing and anything short of the ultimate prize is a letdown.

So with that knowledge there's no reason for fans to get too excited before the calendar turns to May. But one could forgive them for liking what they're seeing from those in pinstripes. The Yankees completed a three-game sweep over the hated Red Sox on Thursday night with a 4-2 victory that saw Cam Schlittler, who grew up a Boston diehard, scatter four hits over eight innings while only allowing one earned run. That's now six consecutive victories for New York, which has allowed it to open up a 2 1/2-game lead at the top of the American League East.

Aaron Judge has, as expected, walloped a bunch of baseballs into the atmosphere. Ben Rice, perhaps a bit surprisingly, has emerged to look like the most capable Robin to Judge's Batman. There is a long and rich tradition in the Bronx of big boppers mashing and runs coming in bunches.

That formula was not enough to overcome ineffective starting pitching during the first two ALDS games against the Blue Jays last October. Luis Gil was out of Game 1 in the third inning after giving up a pair of solo homers. The bullpen parade fell apart when it got to Luke Weaver, who surrendered three earned runs without recording an out. By the time the smoke cleared, Toronto had a 10-1 rout. Game 2 wasn't much better as Max Fried got lit up for seven runs in three innings in a 13-7 slugfest loss. The Yankees managed to outscore the Blue Jays in the next contest to overcome Carlos Rodon giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings. Though Schlittler was quality in Game 4, New York's offense did not show up and the offseason came quicker than they hoped.

In the four playoff games against the Blue Jays last season Yankees starters gave up 17 runs in just 14 innings for a 10.93 ERA. That is, quite obviously, not a formula for much success. That's why the current six-game winning streak has a little extra oomph on it. Boone's starters have been spectacular, turning in quality outing after quality outing en route to a 0.63 ERA during the surge.

Schlittler appears to be taking the intended next step and becoming an incredibly reliable option. The second-year player leads the American League in starts and WHIP (0.729) while having the lowest walk rate. He's racking up more than 10 strikeouts for every free pass. Max Fried has picked up right where he left off in 2025. The lefty is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA and continues to make the big free agent move look genius. Will Warren is 2-0 with a 2.49 mark and Ryan Weathers checks in at 1-2 and 3.18. Collectively the rotation is far and away the best in baseball to this point. Their 2.59 ERA is significantly lower than the second best team (Dodgers at 2.81) and a full run lower than 22 teams' mark at this point.

This has propeled the team to a 16-9 start, which is the best mark in the American League. That No. 1 seed, and the bye that comes with it, is of blatant importance and for the Yankees it might be even more so, as getting a series off the ground at home has to be preferable after what happened last season. Throwing Fried and Schlittler out there in front of a raucous crowd seems like a good plan.

Again, it's a long way away from being a reality. Yet there's a proof of concept forming for fans to extrapolate out and get excited about.

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