Cam Schlittler or Luis Gil: Who will Yankees start in Game 3 of playoff series?

Six games to play, one big decision looming for the Yankees.

And that is: who between Cam Schlittler, a rookie who has dazzled with an electric fastball since taking over for the injured Clarke Schmidt in the rotation in early July, and Luis Gil, the AL Rookie of the Year who features plenty of electricity of his own in his fastball, starts in the third game of whatever playoff series the Yankees find themselves in next week.

The Yankees, although winning the AL East remains the goal, that remains a longshot as they would need to gain three games on the first-place Blue Jays with a half dozen games left for both clubs.

Toronto’s schedule is far more difficult. The Blue Jays have three games at home vs. the Red Sox and then the Rays while the Yankees are home for three against the horrid White Sox and then the long-out-of-contention Orioles. But the Blue Jays, a strong team at home all season, would probably have to go 1-5 or 2-4 in that stretch to cough up their division lead. And that’s assuming the Yankees sweep their six games or go 5-1 or, at worst, 4-2, a safe assumption given the opposition.

So while in the Yankees clubhouse there is talk of still taking the division – and, appropriately so from a players’ standpoint – the behind-the-scenes talk in the organization, which started casually in recent weeks and began ramping up on Monday’s off-day, revolved around the most likely postseason scenario: the Yankees, as the AL’s top wild-card, playing in the best-of-three series and how they deploy their roster for it.

Because the Yankees have been relatively healthy in the second half, there aren’t many difficult decisions when it comes to the roster, or the lineup for that matter.

Who starts at short between Anthony Volpe and Jose Caballero certainly is getting plenty of airtime in public, whether it be talk radio and/or social media, but, based on how the last week has played out, the organization for now seems inclined to go with Volpe starting at short and Caballero, who leads the majors with 48, as a late-game bullet to be fired off the bench.

The decision of who would go in a potential win-or-go-home third game of the wild-card series, on the other hand, appears far more up in the air.

There is Schlittler, who bounced back Sunday in Baltimore from a bad start in his previous outing in Minneapolis when the 24-year-old had some rare struggles with his command, who is 3-3 with a 3.41 ERA in 13 starts. He’s struck out 69 and walked 29 in 60 2/3 innings (five of the walks came in the game against the Twins). The righthander, lined up to make his final start of the regular season Saturday against Baltimore, has impressed his teammates and staff at this level with his confidence, willingness and eagerness to pick the brains of the veteran pitchers and overall mound presence.

Then there is Gil, who missed the first four months of the season with a right lat strain after going 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in his breakout rookie year in 2024. Slated to start Tuesday against the White Sox, Gil, who debuted in 2021 and has impressed his big-league teammates and staff for many of the same reasons Schlittler has, is 4-1 with a 3.33 ERA in nine starts, striking out 36 and walking 29 in 46 innings.

“It is,” one member of the Yankees’ traveling party said over the weekend of the decision, “it a good problem to have.”

A straw poll conducted by Newsday last week of six people inside the Yankees’ organization and of six rival talent evaluators assigned to the Yankees brought, in each case, three votes for Gil, three for Schlittler.

Those voting for Gil mentioned, as one NL scout said, the 27-year-old having “more of an established track record” at the major league level.

Those going for Schlittler each mentioned concern with Gil’s consistency when it comes to his command.
“Walks usually get amplified in the postseason,” one organizational insider said.

Countered a rival AL scout: “Gil always seems unflappable out there. He’s basically turned himself into this guy who constantly pitches himself out of trouble. That can be huge in October.”

Multiple talent evaluators did say they expect, regardless of who gets the start, it might well be one time through the order for whoever starts, with the pitcher not starting at the ready from the bullpen.

Speaking on the topic last week in Minneapolis, manager Aaron Boone said of Gil and Schlittler and the decision of who gets the nod: “hopefully they kind of put us in a tough situation.”

That they have.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.