Scouting ballplayers can be grueling, inaccurate knowledge, and so on Damon Oppenheimer he knows, “there are times when we look at Tartarus dumb.”
But Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ beloved scouting director, and the rest of the people who work in scouting and player development, had an impact on the Red Sox’s AL Wild Card Series for the club. The series was a showcase for the homegrown Yanks, including one of the best drafted and drafted Yankees ever — Aaron the judge – absent due to calf injury.
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“The players are the ones who make us look pain, right?” Oppenheimer said. “I’ve got a great team that’s going to give us the ability to look smart now.”
Cam Schlittler and Ben Riceboth mid-round picks from Massachusetts, were the stars of Game 1. But other composed and developed kids in the series also had impactful roles. Six Yanks homers, including Schlittler, started Game 1; Four started in game 2. If Judge was playing, both numbers would be higher.
So could these: Five homegrown position players who started either or both games — Rice, Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Augustine Wells and Anthony Volpe — combined to go 15-for-34 in the series (.441) with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI.
The Yankees are often thought of as the only big-money, big-game hunters who target brand-name mercenaries every winter in the free agency. They certainly have a number. Maximilian Fried, Gerrit Cole, Cody Bellingeretc. Don’t be afraid to write a check to fill the need.
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But the banking system is also made up of contributors across the country. And that’s without a top-10 pick because they chose a named shortstop Theodoric Jeter Back in 1992. Since then, in fact, they only had five first round picks as teenagers.
Coming together and helping out is like Rice put it “super fun. We all came up to each other in some way. It was a certain LINO. Maybe two guys were ahead of the others. But now we’re all here in the big leagues. And it’s so cool that everyone’s going to have success and carve out their roles.
“We’re definitely a tight group and we take pride in that.”
Sep 29, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) bounces during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox in game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Schlittler, who finished with 6.1 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts in Game 1, became the fourth pitcher signed by the Yankees to start the series opener of the postseason series for the team. Andy Pettitte (five times); Ronald Guidry (Third) and * Jim Beaton (once upon a time).
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Rice went 4-for-5 in Game 1 with a solo homer and a big hit, driving in six runs overall. He is the fifth player in club history with six RBI in a postseason game. He and Schlittler had two great acts Aaron Boone called “one of those truly special nights at Yankee Stadium.”
Lombardi Sr., a 21-year-old first-rounder who took over at shortstop late in the season, became the second-youngest Yankee to make his season debut (at age 19 Mickey Mantle he was the youngest). Lombardi was the fifth Yankee ever to have three hits in the first game of the season and the first Yankee since Jeter in 1996 to total four hits over the first two playoff games.
And there’s more: Jones reached twice in his debut game in Game 1. In Game 2, he was the unlikely catalyst for a six-run sixth inning that wrecked the Red Sox. Jones was hit, but he reached first on a dropped third strike. Jones, who is 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, is incredibly fast for such a big fella. He then stole second and advanced to third on an error and later scored.
“That was just really serious,” Bellinger said of Jones’ crippling offense. “And, you know, he lit a fire in our dugout for sure.”
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“I couldn’t believe it was there,” Boone added. “I saw him drop the ball a little bit, he didn’t think much, he looked and I was like, ‘Oh – it’s safe.’
Volpe, the player who threw perhaps as many hands as anyone in pinstripes, ever, did not play in Game 2, but reached base in 18-of-his-22 career games, including Game 1. Before Rice, he was the last Yankee to hit a home run in the 2024 World Series.
Wells, who has been flourishing against lefties this season, was beaten in the first run of the series against southpaws Payton Tolle. He was 3-for-6 overall with two runs and four RBI and has a 1.136 OPS over his last fourteen games.
“All the kids that the scouts saw and then the development of our player guys were done,” Oppenheimer said. “It’s a joke.”
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Oppenheimer said his phone was buzzing between Game 1: Texts from folks who work in the team’s industry or elsewhere, noting how many draft runners were flying, especially Rice and Schlittler. “A lot has come to you and I congratulate you,” Oppenheimer said.
Later, when he was talking to the players, he heard it again. Schlittler, for example, spoke to Matt Hyde, the scout responsible for Schlittler, Rice and Fox. After Game 1, “You tell Cam, ‘Matty Hyde is the GOAT,'” Oppenheimer said.
“I mean, it doesn’t happen. It’s not right that a person made that kind of impact on such an actor. So it’s really funny.”
Schlittler always name-checked Hyde in his press conference in response to his pride in himself and Rice’s status as “middle-of-the-road guys.”
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“Yeah, we love it,” Schlittler said. “We have a lot of conversations with Matty Hyde and I know he’s proud of us. And we wouldn’t be here without him.”
“He did a hell of a job for us, as did the other guys, all of these guys were involved, too,” Oppenheimer said. “It’s quite a story.”
The entire series was a “giveaway” moment for Yankees scouts, Oppenheimer said.
“The guys (scouts) have been working for that stuff for years and years and it just culminates with the relationships that they’ve all built with these guys and maintained with them throughout their entire minor-league career,” he added.
“It’s about the players and this is what the scouts will always tell you. But our guys are obviously very excited and happy and they feel quite confident.”