The Yankees' Emerging Key Arm: Cam Schlittler
- Mayline Ruiz
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
The MLB regular season is in full swing and there have been stars who are already standing out. The first Major League Baseball game was a pitching showdown with the New York Yankees against the San Francisco Giants in Oracle Park. In the first game of the season, the Yankees defeated the Giants 7-0, but the second game of the series stood out, and that's because of New York's starting pitcher, Cam Schlittler.
Schlittler was born in Weymouth, MA, on Feb. 5, 2001. Schlittler attended Northeastern University, where he pitched from 2020 to 2022. In his first year at Northeastern, Schlittler recorded a 1.32 ERA. It wasn't until 2021 that Schlittler recorded a 1.88 ERA with eight wins and only one loss. In 2022, Schlittler had a 3.53 ERA in 91 innings, where he had five wins and eight losses with 85 strikeouts.
Schlittler won CAA Pitcher of the Week twice in 2021 and 2022. He also won the CAA All-Tournament and the All-CAA First Team in 2021. Following his university career, Schlittler was set to start with the Yankees organization after getting drafted in 2022 by New York in the seventh Round as the 220th overall pick.
Schlittler spent time in the Minor Leagues with the Hudson Valley Renegades, Tampa Tarpons, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, FCL Yankees, and the Somerset Patriots. In 54 games, Schlittler recorded a 3.33 ERA, where he won 15 games and had 16 losses. He pitched in 243 innings, where he struck out 303 batters and had a 1.30 WHIP.
After spending three seasons in the Minor League organization, Schlittler made his debut on July 9 against the Seattle Mariners, where he got his first Major League win. Schlittler recorded a 5.06 ERA, where he pitched in five innings and got four hits, and had seven strikeouts.
With the 2025 season ending, Schlittler started in 14 games, where he had four wins and three losses in 73 innings. He threw over 1200 pitches and had 84 strikeouts with a 1.22 WHIP.
Schlittler even got the opportunity to appear in the postseason, where he faced the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series and the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. Schlittler had a phenomenal start against Boston, where he went for eight innings and allowed zero runs. In his two starts, he had a win and a loss, and he recorded a 1.26 ERA. In his first year in the Major Leagues, Schlittler had a big job with being a consistent pitcher to back up power hitters in the Yankees lineup, such as Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and more.
With the 2026 season starting, Schlittler performed exceptionally well in Spring Training, where he had three starts and got two wins. While he only pitched in nine innings, Schlittler allowed only one run, and he struck out 11 batters.
Schlittler's three starts were enough to keep him in the starting rotation. He had big shoes to fill starting game two of the Giants series after Max Fried's incredible start. Schlittler pitched in five innings, where he struck out eight hitters and allowed zero runs. Schlittler was credited with the win after the Yankees shut out San Francisco for the second time in a row.
In his most recent start, Schlittler went against the Kansas City Royals, where he went for six innings, only allowing three hits and one run. So far, Schlittler has pitched in five games, where he has two wins and only one loss. His five starts have allowed him to record a 1.95 ERA in 27 innings, allowing seven runs, with a 0.76 WHIP.
Having a younger player on the team will help the Yankees have a consistent starting rotation, and Schlittler will also be able to gather advice from the veteran starting pitchers.
Schlittler is set to start against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. Schlittler has been a big reason why the Yankees have a 14-9 record, and they currently lead the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays behind them by two games.
Edited by Mary Merensky
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