{"id":735196,"date":"2026-06-14T00:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735196\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T00:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:27:10","slug":"a-lot-of-mutual-respect-schlittler-embraces-growing-blue-jays-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735196\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A lot of mutual respect’: Schlittler embraces growing Blue Jays rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 Gerrit Cole couldn\u2019t help but grin when he heard the question.<\/p>\n

Standing in the visitors\u2019 clubhouse in Rogers Centre following the New York Yankees<\/a>\u2019 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, the conversation turned to the abundant confidence of Cole\u2019s rotation mate, Cam Schlittler.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that everybody’s their own individual and they have human traits that make them who they are,\u201d Cole told\u00a0Sportsnet, offering a diplomatic response while trying to contain a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cole, the elder statesman of the Yankees\u2019 pitching staff and one of the most respected pitchers in the sport, was referring to Schlittler\u2019s penchant for open, honest and sometimes controversial remarks. Cole said he\u2019s spoken to the 25-year-old Schlittler about the topic but noted that ultimately, it\u2019s not his place to police that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve approached it with him in the past,\u201d said Cole. \u201cLike any other thing, let’s just try to make it as efficient as possible. There’s no right or wrong answer. I don’t think anybody’s an expert. I don’t think anybody should be telling anybody what they can or can’t say when it’s their deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, as we\u2019re constantly trying to improve, let\u2019s make sure we’re just being efficient with what we’re saying,\u201d he continued. \u201cJust find a way to communicate what you want to communicate in the best way to communicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlittler, of course, continued his propensity for such comments while speaking about Blue Jays fans in the lead-up to his start at Rogers Centre on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re easy to rage-bait, I think,\u201d Schlittler told\u00a0MLB.com.<\/a> \u201cAll the stuff last year in the playoffs or whatever it is \u2014 they\u2019ve got a whole country behind them, so there\u2019s a lot. They\u2019re passionate about it. You respect them for that, but I don\u2019t really like them. They ended our season last year. I hope everyone\u2019s got that chip on their shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those quotes are in line with Schlitter\u2019s history of not mixing his words, especially when it\u2019s concerning the Blue Jays. Following a rough start against the club last September, the right-hander suggested he was tipping his pitches and then, after a May loss in Yankee Stadium, Schlitter said the Blue Jays are a \u201cteam that’s gonna BABIP the (expletive) out of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Jays manager John Schneider laughed when asked if he\u2019d heard Schlittler\u2019s latest comments leading into Saturday\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I don’t think he likes any opposing fan base,\u201d Schneider quipped in his office prior to the game. \u201cHey, great. I mean, I think everyone uses things to kind of get themselves going a little bit. And he’s having a hell of a year. But yeah, I mean, great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlittler, who\u2019s enjoying an excellent season atop the Yankees rotation, certainly backed up his verbiage with an impressive showing on the mound in what was easily the best of his five career starts against the Blue Jays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He allowed just one run \u2014 a Kazuma Okamoto solo homer \u2014 on six hits over seven frames, walking four and striking out seven. Schlittler didn\u2019t quite have his best stuff, yet did a nice job of pitching out of trouble on several occasions and held serve against Blue Jays\u2019 veteran Kevin Gausman, whose only hit allowed over seven brilliant frames was a Jasson Dominguez solo homer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both pitchers left with the game knotted 1-1, a tie that was eventually broken when Paul Goldschmidt launched a two-run homer off Louis Varland in the ninth inning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe grinded his way through seven,\u201d said Yankees manager Aaron Boone of\u00a0Schlittler. \u201cFirst and foremost, he is a strike thrower. So, even though he had a handful of walks today, you feel like he can right that ship at any time. He made some big pitches today when he needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlittler acknowledged his outing was a \u201cgrind\u201d and said he\u2019s been working to correct his mechanics over his past few starts.<\/p>\n

As for his budding rivalry with the Blue Jays, Schlittler chalked it up to the two clubs being American League East rivals and proceeded to heap praise on his opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got a great club over here,\u201d\u00a0Schlittler said. \u201cAnd the way it turned out last year, it gets a little chippy. I think there’s a lot of mutual respect between both sides. The fans clash more than the players do, but they got a great team over here and it feels like they play us really well, when we’re here or back home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’ll continue to grow throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole, who missed the entire 2025 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery, rejoined the Yankees last month and while he won\u2019t pitch during this visit to Toronto, he\u2019s happy to jump into the renewed rivalry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a new year and fresh start, but it\u2019s not that you don’t bring the baggage,\u201d said Cole. \u201cYou bring a little bit of the baggage with you now. It just adds maybe a little bit more to the series, even though it kind of always has an elevated feel just because it’s a division (matchup) and because the (Blue Jays are) so good on a regular basis. There’s always a little edge when you have some history with the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MLBMLB on Sportsnet<\/p>\n

Watch the Toronto Blue Jays, Blue Jays Central pre-game, marquee MLB matchups, Jays in 30, original documentaries, the wild card, divisional series, championship series and entire World Series on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.<\/p>\n

Broadcast schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

As for\u00a0Schlittler, who leads all AL starters with a 1.82 ERA and 3.3 wins above replacement, Cole says he\u2019s been impressed by the development of the young hurler.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis baseball acumen is really high,\u201d said Cole. \u201cHis pitch arsenal is elite, too. So, he combines the two and is relentless with his attacking mindset. He’s in the zone as much as possible with three different weapons and he’s just got good instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instincts that will no doubt\u00a0play a central role in the Blue Jays-Yankees rivalry for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Gerrit Cole couldn\u2019t help but grin when he heard the question. Standing in the visitors\u2019 clubhouse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-735196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}