Schlittler heads to Toronto with 1.87 ERA bravado

Schlittler takes – With the Yankees trailing after an 8-5 loss in Toronto, young starter Cody Schlittler arrives carrying an American League-leading 1.87 ERA and a clear message: hostile home noise won’t rattle him. He points to Blue Jays fans as “easy to rage-bait,” then looks

When the Rogers Centre roof is closed, the sound doesn’t just carry—it traps. Blue Jays fans end up feeling closer than the walls should allow, and for the Yankees, that tight acoustics has meant plenty of nights that sting more than they soothe.

Cody Schlittler knows the history of this place. He also knows where he wants his next outing to land.

“I know they don’t like us,” Schlittler said of the Blue Jays. “The fans don’t like us. The fans don’t like me. So it’ll be good to go out there and try to be locked in, try to give us a quality start and put us in a position to win games.”

Saturday’s start matters for more than pride. The Yankees are trying to even the series after losing the opener, 8-5, on Friday evening. Schlittler enters with a reason to feel steady: a 7-3 record and an American League-leading 1.87 ERA across 14 starts. backed by an 0.87 WHIP that ranks second in the Majors behind the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (0.74).

He was asked why he believes Toronto fans don’t like him.

“They’re easy to rage-bait, I think,” Schlittler said. “All the stuff last year in the playoffs or whatever it is — they’ve got a whole country behind them. so there’s a lot. They’re passionate about it. You respect them for that, but I don’t really like them. They ended our season last year. I hope everyone’s got that chip on their shoulder.”.

Schlittler’s reputation isn’t built on one moment. Everyone remembers how he performed in the American League Wild Card Series, when his dominant 12-strikeout outing sent the Red Sox home and quieted the online chirpers.

What came after, the part he now carries into Toronto, is harder to shake.

The Yankees celebrated on their field in the Bronx before zipping up to Toronto, where they were met by a rested Blue Jays team. Schlittler remembers what followed in plain terms.

“We came here and underperformed for two games,” Schlittler said. “We kind of got our [butts] kicked. We went home and I definitely thought we played better. It was frustrating how it ended there.”

In that postseason run, Schlittler was the Yankees’ starter in the decisive ALDS Game 4. He was charged with four runs—two earned—over 6 1/3 innings on the wrong side of a bullpen game for a Toronto club that went on to win the pennant.

“I wasn’t really too upset with my performance,” Schlittler said. “They did what they do so well. I gave us a shot. They’ve got a good team, and I’m frustrated with how last year ended.”

This season brings its own setup. Schlittler will face the Jays for the first time since May 20, when they handed him a 2-1 loss at Yankee Stadium. That matters too, because the lineup on Saturday is expected to be reshaped by absences.

Three of the starters from that May 20 game—Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells—are expected to be missing from Saturday’s batting order.

“Obviously we’ve got some guys out right now that were key parts of the lineup,” he said. “We looked really good in Cleveland, so I just hope we can bring that kind of momentum here into their place.”

Toronto has been a tough place for New York—last season the Yankees lost eight of nine in Toronto. including the first two games of the American League Division Series. But Schlittler isn’t going to pretend that hostility is something to dodge. If the sound in the Rogers Centre roof makes it feel personal. he plans to meet it locked in and measured.

He’s chasing an even series now. More than that, he’s trying to reclaim the kind of sharpness the Yankees lost track of in Toronto last year—before the season ended.

Cody Schlittler Yankees Blue Jays Toronto Rogers Centre ALDS Wild Card Series 1.87 ERA 0.87 WHIP Aaron Judge Trent Grisham Austin Wells