Fellow Yankees running out of superlatives to describe Schlittler's dominance
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PHOENIX -- Cam Schlittler sported a significant bruise on his right hamstring as he moved through the visiting clubhouse at Chase Field on Friday afternoon. It was a souvenir from his most recent start, which ended after the Mets’ Bo Bichette connected on a 111.5 mph comebacker.
That ball dented flesh, but Schlittler’s season has been so charmed, even the hard-hit balls are turning into outs. Bichette’s knock ricocheted to catcher Austin Wells, who tossed on to first base, sealing Schlittler’s six scoreless innings that day.
“It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to play behind,” Cody Bellinger said. “Even in the middle of the game, I was like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ You don’t really get that much.”
The American League Cy Young Award frontrunner will carry his special season into the desert on Saturday, taking the ball for his 32nd start of the year opposite the D-backs' Brandon Pfaadt.
And while the league has had ample opportunity to take in Schlittler’s dominance, what impresses most from a distance of 60 feet and six inches?
“Probably the composure on the mound,” Wells said. “I think that’s the most impressive, besides obviously the numbers across the board. It’s just the way he handles every inning, every pitch. He expects the best every time he throws the ball. So it’s super impressive.”
That’s good news for the Yankees, who appear to be lining up Schlittler to start a potential Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
“You’ve got an ace at the top that’s pitched like that, that’s a good place to start,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s been dominant. I think he’s just continued to get better, year in and year out.”
Schlittler is aware of the awards talk swirling around him -- Boone has opined that he could be the AL’s MVP, as well as Cy Young -- but the 25-year-old seems to have his eyes on bigger prizes.
“The expectation is to make the playoffs, and the expectation is to win a championship,” Schlittler said. “We’re in a good spot if we keep playing the way we’re playing.”
With Schlittler deep into his longest season yet, Wells believes his batterymate is finding new layers of sharpness.
“I think we’ve seen games where he doesn’t have the best command, but he still gets through it,” Wells said. “There’s another layer to that command piece, that makes it effectively a little bit wild sometimes. I think when he continues to improve that, he’s just going to continue to get better.”
Schlittler’s 1.95 ERA is the second-lowest by a Yankee through 31 starts since Ron Guidry’s 1.71 ERA in 1978, when “Louisiana Lightning” won the Cy Young and finished second in the MVP race to Jim Rice of the Red Sox.
It was the 21st time Schlittler has allowed one run or fewer. That’s a franchise record, and over the last 110 years, only three pitchers age 25 or younger have had as many: Blake Snell (2018), Dean Chance (1964) and Babe Ruth (1916).
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Yet Boone said he’s not surprised by Schlittler’s performance, saying it has been largely in line with what the Yankees saw after his late-season callup in 2025.
“He had about as dominant a postseason outing as you could against the Red Sox, and he has carried that right into this year,” Boone said. “He’s got great stuff, he’s a tremendous competitor and he has a real good way about him -- an ability to make adjustments start to start, not be overwhelmed by a result start to start, and he’s put it all together for a full season now at this level.”