Cam Schlittler’s debut leaves Aaron Boone with starting rotation questions

Cam Schlittler’s blazing MLB debut on the mound is still processing for the Yankees in more ways than one. 

While the 24-year-old flamethrower takes in the emotions of such a step in his baseball journey, manager Aaron Boone must grapple with New York’s depleted starting rotation, Schlittler’s potential and his promising debut. 

Boone said after Schlittler’s win against the Mariners on Wednesday that the righty had earned himself another start following next week’s All-Star break. 

But that’s about as much thought as he’s put into the starting pitching puzzle. 

“We barely started scratching the surface on what it might look like,” Boone said before Thursday’s series finale against Seattle. “We’ll get through this weekend and then line it up based on where guys are physically, who we value getting some extra days [off], how we want to line it up based on the schedule coming out of the break. But we really haven’t gotten into that.” 

Like Boone, Schlittler, who had more than 20 friends and family in attendance, hasn’t been thinking too far ahead either. 

The youngster said postgame Wednesday that he was still processing the emotions of his big-league debut.

He added Thursday that it’s been more of the same since then, but that the surreal feelings “come in little spurts.” 

With injuries to Clarke Schmidt, Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Ryan Yarbrough, the team needed some stability in Schlittler’s debut. 

He answered the call with seven strikeouts and three earned runs across 5 ¹/₃ innings.

The 6-foot-6 Massachusetts native maxed out at 100 mph with his fastball and was hovering at 97.9 mph on average across the 40 fastballs he threw. 

It’s a process, but Boone is impressed. 

“It’s about getting ready for the next one, it’s not about nailing anything down,” Boone said. “He had a great debut [Wednesday]. We think he’s got a chance to be a really good pitcher. [We’re] excited of what we saw. It’s about getting him ready for his next one and hopefully continue to build on this. 

“As good as last night was, we think he’s very capable of that. It’s about continuing to help these guys maximize and get them to be the best they can be.”