The New York Yankees have several key pieces on the injured list, but they're lucky that starting pitcher Cam Schlittler is healthy. The 25-year-old is a frontrunner for the American League Cy Young Award, as he's 8-3 with a 1.71 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 16 starts. He ranks third in baseball in ERA, fourth in WHIP and 11th with 109 strikeouts.
Schlittler turned in his 10th quality start of the season in Friday's 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, logging a career-high 13 strikeouts against no walks over six innings. The right-hander also allowed no runs on four hits and tossed 66 strikes out of 96 pitches.
Schlitter's level of production puts him next to a Yankees legend in the record books, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
"Cam Schlittler’s 1.71 ERA is the lowest by a Yankees pitcher in his first 16 starts of a season since Whitey Ford in 1964 (1.47)," he reported on Friday.
Ford is arguably the greatest starting pitcher in franchise history, as he was a 10-time All-Star, won the AL Cy Young Award and World Series MVP honors in 1961, led the AL in wins three times, led MLB in ERA twice and won six championships. The southpaw went 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA over 498 career games (438 starts) and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Yankees Found Gold With Cam Schlittler
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
While most prospects don't develop into superstars, Schlittler is proof of why organizations must invest in their farm systems. New York drafted the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder in the seventh round in 2022, and now he's one of the best pitchers in the sport.
Schlittler quickly worked his way up the ladder, going from Rookie League to High-A in 2023 before making his Triple-A debut in 2024. The Massachusetts native then went from Double-A to Triple-A last year before the Yankees called him up to replace the injured Clarke Schmidt in July.
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Schlittler finished 15-16 with a 3.33 ERA over 54 career minor-league games (50 starts) and went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA across 14 starts at the top level last season. He then tossed eight scoreless innings and logged 12 strikeouts with no walks and five hits allowed in a 4-0, series-clinching win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the wild card series.
After that, Schlittler allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts against no walks in Game 4 of the division series, which the Toronto Blue Jays won 5-2. That ended the Yankees' season.
If Schlittler keeps pitching at his current level, he could help New York get further than it did last year. He's helping the club excel with fellow starting pitcher Max Fried (elbow), right fielder Aaron Judge (rib), designated hitterGiancarlo Stanton (calf), center fielder Trent Grisham (hamstring) and catcher Austin Wells (head) out.
The Yankees are now three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL's best record. After that, the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians are each seven games back.
Up next for New York is a rematch with Cincinnati at home on Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, and Yankees right-hander Will Warren (7-1, 3.47 ERA) will face Reds southpaw Andrew Abbott (4-4, 3.95 ERA).
