When the Wild Card Series begins Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees will have the presumptive AL Cy Young winner on the mound. The Yankees announced Sunday that Cam Schlittler will start Game 1, followed by Max Fried in Game 2 and Gerrit Cole in Game 3. Game 3, of course, may not be needed in the best-of-three series.

The Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series for the second straight year.

While starting Schlittler may have been the obvious move, the Yankees at least considered bumping him to Game 2. That goes back to the old Joe Torre logic that Game 2 was the most important game of the series, because you either had a chance to take a 2-0 lead or avoid an 0-2 hole. In the Wild Card Series, Game 2 is a potential clincher or an elimination game.

"There's like three or four different iterations of it, really, whether you go Cam or Max Game 1 or 2, and then where you fit Carlos (Rodón) and Gerrit in," pitching coach Matt Blake said last week (via the New York Post). "There's a bunch of different iterations of those four guys across three games that could make sense, depending on who you're playing and what that means coming out of the rest here into potential rest in the next series. But obviously you got to win the wild card."  

Schlittler, 25, threw 193 ⅔ innings with a 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts this year, his first full MLB season. He turned in one of the greatest postseason pitching performances ever last year, when he struck out 12 and walked zero in eight shutout innings against the Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. It was only the fourth 12-strikeout postseason game in Yankees history.

For his career, Schlittler has a 0.55 ERA in five starts against Boston. That's two earned runs in 32 ⅓ innings. The Red Sox rank 25th with a .687 OPS against 95-plus mph fastballs. Schlittler throws an upper-90s heater (four-seamer, sinker, cutter) roughly 90% of the time, so, beyond his 2026 performance, his approach matching up well with Boston is another reason to start him in Game 1.

There is an extra off-day after Game 1 of the ALDS this year. If the Yankees advance out of the Wild Card Series, Schlittler will be able to start Game 2 of the ALDS with extra rest and Game 5 on normal rest. The Yankees must get out of the Wild Card Series first, of course, but the ALDS schedule sets them up to start Schlittler three times in their first seven or eight postseason games.

Fried had a 2.80 ERA in 20 starts around two injured list stints for an elbow bone bruise this year. His velocity has been down a tick since returning last month, though he's a seven-pitch guy with strong command. Fried has plenty of weapons to get outs even when his fastball is 92-94 mph more than 94-96 mph. He pitched well against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series last year.

Cole returned from Tommy John surgery in May and authored a 3.61 ERA in 22 starts, though there were ups and downs, including home run issues in September. At one point, Cole surrendered seven homers in a two-start span. Rodón had a 1.89 ERA in seven starts since returning from elbow inflammation in August. He'll be part of the Wild Card Series bullpen.

The Yankees enter the regular season's final day with a 93-68 record. They have the American League's second-best record but also the AL East's second-best record behind the Tampa Bay Rays, hence their spot in the Wild Card Series.

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