Yankees' Cam Schlittler couldn't have been more wrong about Rays crowd after pregame trash talk

New York Yankees ace Cam Schlittler loves taking digs at opposing fanbases, especially since he always seems to back it up by dominating. Schlittler's favorite adversary are Red Sox fans, but he's also apparently interested in self-antagonizing, creating a hate-able image of himself for Tampa Bay Rays fans' eyes only. We saw this on Saturday afternoon ahead of Game 1 of the ALDS (and ahead of his Game 2 start Monday night).

During his pre-ALDS presser, Schlittler expressed doubts that Tampa Bay's home-field advantage would be much of an advantage at all. Specifically, Schlittler said that he expected there to be a huge number of Yankees fans at Tropicana Field. He even went as far as to suggest that the Yankees would be "kind of playing at home".

Cam Schlittler's comments about Rays fans didn't age well for Yankees during Game 1 of the ALDS

If there was any home-away-from-home situation happening for the Yankees in Game 1, New York didn't perform like it. The Yankees' offense was completely erased by Drew Rasmussen, and Austin Wells made an iconically bad baserunning decision.

Moreover, Jonathan Aranda's homer in the third inning (which ended up being the difference-maker) was met with audible excitement at the Trop. Rays fans might not show up that much during the regular season, but things are different now that we're in October. Schlittler's estimation was way off, and the misfire is backed by numbers. There were 40,542 fans in attendance at Game 1, the largest attendance at Tropicana Field since Game 5 of the 2010 ALDS.

Did that increased number include many Yankees fans? Yes. But if you ask Rays manager Kevin Cash, this was absolutely a home crowd.

“Best I’ve heard it ever in my 12 years, and I’ve never seen it like this,” Cash said, per The Athletic's Will Sammon. “So, very excited and appreciative of our fans.”

Rays infielder Taylor Walls admitted after the game that it's usually hard to tell which fanbase is better represented at Tropicana during Rays-Yankees games, while Rasmussen said the Game 1 crowd felt Rays-dominant.

In sum, Schlittler's comments would've been true if applied to the mere 17,469 fans per game that Tampa Bay averaged during the regular season (third-lowest in MLB). But the remarks aren't true at the moment, which is what matters. There are more fans overall at the Trop for this postseason, and there are also more Rays fans.

Yankees are running into déja vù road experience similar to 2025 ALDS vs. Blue Jays

All of this is beginning to feel similar to last year's ALDS, in which the Yankees were up against a hot Toronto Blue Jays team and an even hotter fanbase at the Rogers Centre. Ironically, given his comments, it's now up to Schlittler to silence the Tropicana Field crowd in Game 2 and help the Yankees avoid what happened to them last October.

Then again, maybe a silent crowd is exactly what Schlittler doesn't want. He tends to feed off of backlash from opposing fans, which explains why he enjoys getting in these jabs whenever a microphone is placed beneath his mouth. Yankees fans won't be complaining about any of this if the soon-to-be Cy Young delivers another gem on the road.

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