A youth movement has fueled the Yankees in 2025, with players such as Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez, and Will Warren helping them sit in first place in the American League East.
With the injury to Ryan Yarbrough and Marcus Stroman’s less-than-desirable outings in Somerset, the Yankees could need to look somewhere else to find some rotation help.
It could come in the form of JT Brubaker, whom the team retained this past offseason despite being able to non-tender him and save a few bucks in the process.
Cam Schlittler could be forcing his way into that conversation however, following another dominant performance in Scranton against a strong Worchester offense.
The Yankees hold the right-hander in very high regard, as people inside the organization view Schlittler as someone who could make an impact on the roster as soon as this year.
How Cam Schlittler Could Fit Into the Yankees’ Short-Term Plans
Last night was perhaps the most impressive start of Cam Schlittler’s season when factoring in the competition he faced, going up against a Worchester WooSox team that featured Kristian Campbell.
In three matchups against one of the top 10 prospects in the game heading into 2025, Schlittler punched him in each at-bat, overpowering one of the best hitters currently at the Triple-A level.
He struck out nine batters across six scoreless innings, allowing just three of the 20 batters he faced to reach base, and issuing just one walk.
Among Minor League pitchers with at least 60 IP, Schlittler is 7th in K-BB% (24.5%) and 4th in FIP (2.36), dominating hitters with a remarkable pitch mix.
His four-seam fastball is sitting between 96-97 MPH, and while it doesn’t have elite vertical ride, there are some abnormal qualities that have allowed it to be brilliant at top of the zone.
Cam Schlittler throws a cut-ride fastball, meaning it has some vertical movement while having little to no arm-side movement, causing hitters to believe the pitch is moving glove-side instead.
It’s not a common pitch shape, and at 96.5 MPH it’s much firmer than one would expect for that kind of shape as well.
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His best pitch this year has been his cutter, which is tagged as a slider because of how much movement is generates both laterally and vertically.
This cutter is a good swing-and-miss pitch for a cutter, generates soft contact, and also results in some chases out of zone when he locates it right off the plate.
Tunneling the fastball and cutter can create uncomfortable at-bats for hitters because of how similar they look out of hand, and his breaking balls are still brilliant.
Cam Schlittler has a ‘Hand of God’ slider, generating a ton of vertical ride for the pitch with 10.9 inches of horizontal movement at 87.1 MPH.
It’s a unique pitch that has a high chase and whiff rate, and his curveball (which is mostly used against lefties), has tons of vertical drop and can steal strikes or get chases in the dirt.
In the question of whether Cam Schlittler is ready or not, I’m at the point where I believe this team could benefit from his presence in the rotation.
Marcus Stroman is slated to get the ball soon, and in watching his most recent rehab start with Somerset, he looked worse than we saw in 2024.
The fastball sat around 89 MPH, and the Yankees aren’t exactly enamored with the idea of Stroman making starts for them again.
Allan Winans is another starter who doesn’t have the stuff to overwhelm hitters, and JT Brubaker might be better-suited for a reliever role where his fastball sits around 93-94 MPH.
Cam Schlittler immediately becomes the hardest-thrower in the rotation, and he could provide the Yankees with someone that can grow into a middle-of-the-rotation starter.
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I also expect sellers to ask about Schlittler over and over again in trade talks, and if the Yankees can net a huge piece for him, they’ll certainly explore that as well.
The Yankees do genuinely hold Cam Schlittler in high regard though; Matt Blake spoke about him as a second-half option for this pitching staff back before the right-hander had even conquered the Double-A level.
Sporting four plus pitches and a sizzling fastball, their faith in the tall prospect could result in a promotion to the big leagues to support a rotation that may not get Luis Gil back for another month.