Cam Schlittler is heading into his second season with the New York Yankees after making his MLB debut last campaign. Now, Schlittler will be looking to establish himself as a top-of-the-rotation starter for New York.
Last season, Schlittler started 14 games in the regular season for the Yankees with a 4-3 record and an ERA of 2.96 and 84 strikeouts, per StatMuse. He also had a memorable postseason outing against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, where Schlittler recorded 12 strikeouts.
Schlittler will be looking to build off of these numbers and moments, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post made a comparison that should have Yankees fans optimistic that they have an ace blooming.
“There’s a universality to what folks think of Schlittler when they’re watching him,” Sherman said in a March 16 video from the New York Post. “There is a little bit of a young Gerrit Cole vibe. That is pretty heady. Even if he is a really good No. 3 starter, what a draft pick that is.
“That’s a 7th-round draft pick. That goes a long way if you’re able to do it. But the Yankees are dreaming about a high-stuff, high-end rotation that is able to carry them all season, but then also is a difference maker in October.”
Cam Schlittler Must Show Top-of-the-Rotation Potential
Moreover, Sherman notes that it’s up to Schlittler to put all the pieces together to show he’s more than just a middle-of-the-rotation guy and that the Yankees have a pitcher who can be a No. 1 or No. 2 starter.
“To me, the next key is Schlitter,” Sherman added. “If this is just hinting at who he is and it’s real, it is a huge difference-maker. It is a top-of-the-rotation starter. And let’s put it this way: He now believes he doesn’t suck. He said that. He said, ‘Bring the doubters on.’
“I expect that when we look back, and he used the month October, he said, ‘When we look back in October, I’ll have done a lot of really, really terrific things.’ It’s a guy to watch because the upside, especially from where he was, is spectacular.”
Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Gives Update on Progression
As the 2026 MLB season approaches, Yankees starter Gerrit Cole is inching closer to his return after missing 2025. Cole spoke with MLB Network on Feb. 26 to share the latest in his rehab from Tommy John surgery.
“I would say it’s gone very well,” Cole said. “We’ve hit every marker that we’ve tried to hit, and we’re in the parameters of what we’re looking for. So the level of execution has been high, especially last start. It doesn’t always happen like that, but so far, so good.”
New York will count on guys like Schlittler to get them through the early part of the 2026 season, but the Yankees are counting the days until they have their ace back in the rotation. If Aaron Boone and Co. want to get back to the World Series, they’ll need Cole and hope that the veteran pitcher hits the ground running.
Yankees’ Cam Schlittler Receives Compelling Gerrit Cole Take