Yankees’ Cam Schlittler finishes Cy Young Award-caliber season with 1.95 ERA in win vs. Rays
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — In his final start of a historic regular season, Cam Schlittler put the finishing touches on what is all but certain to be an American League Cy Young Award campaign.
The Yankees ace allowed two runs (one earned) in three innings with five strikeouts on 70 pitches in Thursday night’s 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx.
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Schlittler took a no-decision on a night the Yankees (92-67) overcame a four-run deficit, with George Lombard Jr.’s towering, tie-breaking two-run home run in the eighth proving to be the difference.
That capped a prolific year in which Schlittler, in his first full MLB season, went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA, 239 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP in 193.2 innings over 33 starts.
Schlittler’s ERA is the third-lowest by a Yankee since 1913, when earned runs became an official stat, trailing only Spud Chandler’s 1.64 ERA in 1943 and Ron Guidry’s 1.74 ERA in 1978.
His strikeouts are tied for the fourth-most in Yankees single-season history.
Opponents batted just .185 against Schlittler, whose 22 starts allowing one earned run or fewer set a franchise record.
Relying mostly on three variations of fastballs, Schlittler posted the best ERA in the AL by nearly half a run, with Toronto’s Dylan Cease placing a distant second at 2.40.
Schlittler, 25, ranks second among AL starters in innings, WHIP and opponent batting average. His 33 starts are tied for the most in the AL, while his 239 strikeouts are tied for the second-most.
Entering Thursday, Schlittler led all AL pitchers with a 6.1 WAR (wins above replacement), per FanGraphs — a number bested by only two AL position players in Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. (6.6) and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (6.5).
Earlier this month, Yankees manager Aaron Boone suggested Schlittler deserved consideration for the AL MVP Award, too.
With the Yankees locked into the AL’s No. 4 seed, Boone acknowledged pregame Thursday that Schlittler would not receive his typical workload. His start functioned instead as one last tune-up before next week’s Wild Card playoff series.
But the outing still served as an encapsulation of Schlittler’s dominance, as he elicited 14 swings and misses against the contact-oriented Rays and maxed out his four-seam fastball at 100.0 mph despite the chilly Bronx air.
A first-time All-Star, Schlittler was mired in a two-man Cy Young race with Cease for much of the season.
But while Cease (11-6, 2.40 ERA, 239 strikeouts in 169.0 innings, 5.5 WAR) faltered a bit down the stretch and ultimately ended the year on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, Schlittler saved his best for last.
In five September starts, Schlittler pitched to a 1.20 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 30.0 innings.
“In my chair, one of the great, beautiful things about this is you get to share in that journey and watch what they go through to achieve these kinds of heights,” Boone said before Thursday’s game.
“We are together for months on end, every day together, traveling together, living together, so you certainly appreciate greatness and great seasons in this beautiful game.”
The flame-throwing Schlittler has been on a meteoric rise since making his MLB debut on July 9, 2025.
He pitched to a 2.94 ERA in 14 starts as a rookie, then further demonstrated his mettle by hurling eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts against his hometown Boston Red Sox in last year’s winner-take-all Game 3 of the Wild Card round.
Schlittler only continued his ascent this year, emerging as the Yankees’ workhorse during a season in which Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón all missed time.
After pitching 149.2 innings between the minors and majors last year, Schlittler blew past that total this season, yet his stuff remained sharp.
On Thursday, Schlittler’s four-seamer averaged 98.1 mph — right in line with his season-long average of 98.0.
Schlittler would become the seventh Yankee to win a Cy Young Award and the first since Cole since 2023. But before then, Schlittler’s focus is on the playoffs, beginning with next week’s Wild Card series.
The Yankees have not determined whether Schlittler will start Game 1, which is scheduled for Tuesday night in the Bronx, most likely against the Red Sox. Should Schlittler receive that assignment, he would pitch on regular rest.
Whenever Schlittler pitches in that series, the Yankees know their opponent can’t counter with anybody better.
Because this season, nobody in the AL has been better than Schlittler.
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