Schlittler for AL MVP? It's not as crazy as you may think

Cam Schlittler is almost certain to take home some hardware this winter. With a couple of weeks left in the regular season, the second-year ace appears to be the favorite for the American League Cy Young Award.

But as Schlittler prepares for his Sunday start against the Mets, why not dream a little bigger?

If there is one pitcher who belongs in any Most Valuable Player conversation, it's another second-season standout: the Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski. And mentioning Schlittler doesn't mean he's equally deserving on the AL side. But he can't be completely ignored.

Consider that entering Saturday, the Yankees right-hander was the AL leader in Baseball-Reference WAR (bWAR), and he was close to the front in FanGraphs WAR (fWAR).

AL bWAR leaders (entering Saturday)

1. Cam Schlittler, NYY: 6.6
2. Bobby Witt Jr., KC: 6.3
3. Kevin McGonigle, DET: 6.1
4. Wilyer Abreu, BOS: 5.9
5-T. Yordan Alvarez, HOU: 5.8
5-T. Dylan Cease, TOR: 5.8

AL fWAR leaders (entering Saturday)

1. Bobby Witt Jr., KC: 6.5
2. Yordan Alvarez, HOU: 5.8
3. Cam Schlittler, NYY: 5.6
4. Dylan Cease, TOR: 5.5
5. Junior Caminero, TB: 4.9

Eight full-time pitchers have led the Junior Circuit in bWAR over the past 30 years. They each won the Cy Young, but only one earned MVP honors (Justin Verlander, 2011).

• Every pitcher who won MVP

Schlittler has plenty of numbers that support his MVP case. He's the AL leader in ERA (2.01) and ranks second in innings pitched (178 2/3), strikeout-minus-walk rate (25.4%) and FIP (2.61). But his value to the Yankees can not be perfectly depicted through statistics.

The Yankees have had to endure injuries to just about every member of their starting rotation and everyday lineup. Of course, Aaron Judge's fractured rib had the biggest impact on the Yanks, but the pitching staff was without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón into May as each right-hander was working his way back from surgery. Rodón missed another six weeks this summer due to left elbow inflammation. Max Fried spent more than two months on the injured list because of multiple bone bruises in his left elbow. Ryan Weathers is currently on the IL with a left forearm strain.

Over the course of this season, Ben Rice, Will Warren and Schlittler are the only three Yankees who have consistently answered the bell. However, Rice has slumped since the All-Star break, and Warren has been only slightly better than league average (104 ERA+) over his 142 1/3 frames.

Conversely, Schlittler has a picture of dominance and consistency, practically carrying New York's oft-injured roster to the second-best record in the AL (85-63 through Saturday). He has posted an ERA of 2.33 or better in all but one month this season. He has held both righty and lefty batters to a sub-.600 OPS. His ERA at night? 2.00. His ERA during the day? 2.05.

It's also not like Schlittler's toughest competitors for the AL's highest individual honor are without warts.

--Alvarez received all 34 first-place votes in our most recent MLB.com MVP poll, and if he is able to complete his quest for a Triple Crown, he's going to run away with the award. But he is a designated hitter on most days, and the fact remains that Shohei Ohtani is the lone DH to be named MVP. He needed to either pitch or put up an unprecedented 50-homer, 50-steal season to do that. Plus, Alvarez's current ankle injury could hamper him and his MVP campaign during the season's home stretch.

--If the season ended today, Caminero would be the only player standing between Alvarez and a Triple Crown. He has 40 dingers for the team with the best record in the American League while Yordan has 38. However, Caminero, for as dynamic as he is in the batter's box, is a well-below-average player in the field and on the bases.

--Witt, who has finished inside the top five of MVP voting after each of the past two seasons, might be the most valuable baserunner and fielder in the AL. But his offensive production for the also-ran Royals (129 OPS+) is a step or two down from what he accomplished in 2024 and '25.

Fourteen months ago, Schlittler was on no one's MVP radar. He made his MLB debut on July 9, 2025, as the Yankees' No. 12 prospect. Three years prior, the Yankees drafted him in the seventh round out of Northeastern University in Boston. The thought heading into '25 is that if he could hone his command and control, Schlittler could develop into a solid, mid-rotation starter.

Fair to say he has far surpassed that projection. Schlittler recorded a 2.96 ERA over 14 starts last season before his full-fledged star turn in the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.

He has been that kind of elite pitcher throughout 2026. It may not make him the second Yankees pitcher to win MVP, joining Spud Chandler in 1943. But Schlittler's meteoric rise from small-school prospect to feasible MVP candidate is a huge story in and of itself.