Yankees

Cam Schlittler Is Forcing His Way Into the Cy Young Race

By ••3 min read
Cam Schlittler Is Forcing His Way Into the Cy Young Race

Cam Schlittler entered the season as an exciting young starter with a chance to establish himself. Fifteen starts later, he is pitching like the ace of the New York Yankees.

There is no reason to dance around it anymore.

Schlittler has a 1.82 ERA, a 7-3 record, 96 strikeouts and only 18 walks through 89 innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .195 against him, and only five pitchers have taken him deep.

Those are not promising young pitcher numbers.

Those are Cy Young numbers.

Schlittler delivered again Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing one run over seven innings while striking out seven. He worked through traffic, handled a hostile Rogers Centre crowd and kept the Yankees alive long enough for Paul Goldschmidt to win the game with a two-run homer in the ninth.

The Yankees needed somebody to stop the bleeding after dropping the series opener. Schlittler walked to the mound and did exactly that.

Schlittler Has Become the Constant

The Yankees entered 2026 with plenty of talent in the rotation, but not much certainty.

Gerrit Cole was returning from Tommy John surgery. Carlos Rodón had his own injury questions. Max Fried is now on the injured list with a left elbow bone bruise. Clarke Schmidt remains on the 60-day injured list while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Through all of it, Schlittler has been the pitcher Aaron Boone can hand the baseball to every fifth day without wondering what he is going to get.

He is 6-foot-6, throws with serious velocity and creates an uncomfortable downhill angle for hitters. But this is not just a tall guy throwing hard and hoping for the best.

Schlittler is throwing strikes, changing speeds and attacking hitters with confidence. His fastball can overpower a lineup, but the improvement of his secondary pitches is what has turned him into a complete starter.

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He can miss bats when he needs a strikeout. He can produce weak contact when his pitch count begins climbing. He can also work deep enough into games to protect a bullpen that has been asked to cover plenty of innings.

This Did Not Come Out of Nowhere

The Yankees selected Schlittler in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He moved quickly through the organization, reached Triple-A during the 2025 season and made his Major League debut that July.

He immediately showed that his stuff could play at the highest level.

Schlittler finished his first Major League season with a 2.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings. Then he introduced himself to the rest of the baseball world by striking out 12 Boston Red Sox hitters in the American League Wild Card Series.

That postseason performance was not a lucky night.

It was a preview.

Through his first 29 career starts, Schlittler owns a 2.38 ERA. Among pitchers who debuted since 1913, only Paul Skenes and José Fernández had a lower ERA through their first 28 starts.

The Cy Young Conversation Is Real

Schlittler currently ranks among the American League leaders in ERA, WHIP and opponent batting average. Earlier this season, he received the most first-place votes in MLB.com’s American League Cy Young poll.

There is still a lot of baseball remaining. Pitchers go through bad stretches, innings totals become a concern and the league eventually makes adjustments.

Now Schlittler gets to show how he responds when hitters begin adjusting to him.

But nothing we have seen suggests he is about to disappear.

The Yankees have an established ace in Cole, a talented veteran in Rodón and more pitching help working its way back.

They also have a 25-year-old right-hander who may already be better than all of them.

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