Hal Steinbrenner isn’t ready to let Cam Schlittler’s postgame comment slide by without a conversation.
The Yankees owner said during his Oct. 21 end-of-season Zoom session that he wants to speak with Schlittler about the right-hander’s blunt reaction after Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Steinbrenner also said he plans to talk with captain Aaron Judge as he tries to sort out exactly what Schlittler meant.
“I’m not disappointed in our defense. I’m not disappointed in the offense. I’m really just disappointed in myself,” Schlittler said.
That line came after New York’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay, a defeat that put the Yankees in a 2-0 hole and set the stage for a three-game sweep on Oct. 7.
The loss was especially ugly: four errors, including three in the first inning, helped turn the game into a mess, and the Yankees’ offense managed just two runs. Schlittler went 4 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs, two earned.
Steinbrenner said the comment caught his attention, but he isn’t rushing to judgment.
“Cam is a hardcore competitor. It’s one of the things we love about him,” Steinbrenner said.
He added, “Of course it’s concerning. And because it’s been brought up, we’re gonna look into it, but I got to find out why, what he means, what made him feel that way. I can’t sit here and answer it right now on that,” Steinbrenner said.
Schlittler’s remarks initially landed hard because of how direct they sounded. Right after the game, he said, “It didn’t seem like we really showed up today,” then pointed to Tampa Bay taking advantage of the Yankees’ mistakes. But when asked to explain whether he meant the team hadn’t shown up at all, he walked that back a bit.
“The team showed up today, obviously,” Schlittler said. “I mean, these guys worked their asses off all year to get to a position like today.”
He also said the Yankees hadn’t played their normal brand of baseball, which left room for the interpretation Steinbrenner is now trying to pin down.
The pitcher’s frustration carried added weight because of what he had done over the regular season. Schlittler finished 2026 with a 1.95 ERA, a 31% strikeout rate and 6.2 wins above replacement by FanGraphs’ measure.
He wasn’t some fringe arm venting after a bad start. He was one of the team’s most dependable pitchers.
Even so, he didn’t leave the blame on anyone else. He said the disappointment was on him, not the offense or defense.
Steinbrenner’s concern about Schlittler’s comment comes in the middle of a broader look at the Yankees’ collapse. New York had rolled through Boston in the Wild Card Series, outscoring the Red Sox 18-2 in a two-game sweep. Then the bats went cold against Tampa Bay, where the Yankees scored five runs total in three games and went 12-for-92 with 31 strikeouts.
That sharp turn from one series to the next only sharpened the scrutiny around the playoff exit. Steinbrenner criticized the lineup’s production while backing Aaron Boone, and Cashman is expected to continue leading baseball operations. The owner’s interest in Schlittler’s words sits inside that wider evaluation of how the season ended.
Cashman also pushed back against the idea that Schlittler’s comments reflected anything selfish in the clubhouse.
“I don’t think we had somebody selfish in there that took away from what we were trying to accomplish,” Cashman said.
Schlittler, for his part, publicly supported Boone after the elimination, saying the manager had the trust of his players and that the players themselves ultimately bore responsibility.
For now, the situation is still in that in-between stage: Steinbrenner has said he wants to hear from Schlittler directly, but no completed conversation or resulting action had been publicly confirmed as of Oct. 22.
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