Cam Schlittler’s incredible season continued with yet another gem on Wednesday night.
He pretty much shut down the Los Angeles Angels for eight innings, although he didn’t get a win because it took the New York Yankees until the 10th inning to pull the victory out.
Still, it was yet another impressive night for Schlittler, who set an American League record in the process.
Facing an Angels team that had put up 10 runs on the Yankees the night before, Schlittler went 8.0 innings and allowed just two hits with no walks. He gave up one earned run and struck out nine.
The only blemish was a seventh-inning home run, a solo shot, by Vaughn Grissom. Even that didn’t ruin Schlittler’s night, though, as he kept rolling right on through the eighth inning in an impressive pitchers duel with Reid Detmers.
The game was tied 1-1 after nine innings because of what these starting pitchers had done.
Schlittler ended up getting to enjoy it more afterward thanks to the Yankees offense putting up five runs in the top of the 10th in an eventual 6-3 win.
Cam Schlittler Sets a Record
Schlittler has officially set the record for the lowest ERA in a pitcher’s first 16 road starts of a season in American League history, according to Baseball Reference’s Katie Sharp.
The right-hander has put up a 1.14 ERA through his 16 road starts this season. The AL has been keeping official earned run statistics since 1913, and since then, no one has done better than Schlittler in this regard.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t a stat about age. Schlittler is just 25, and he’s in his first full season in the major leagues after his impressive stretch run a year ago. Many stats like this filter for how early a player is in his career.
This one isn’t doing that, though. Any pitcher who made at least 16 starts in a season in the American League would be eligible for this record found by Sharp. No one else has been this good on the road.
Overall this season, Schlittler has a 2.04 ERA in 29 starts. He has struck out 210 batters in 171.2 innings — and that innings total leads the entire American League.
Schlittler is also walking just 2.2 batters per nine innings, a remarkable 5.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio that helps explain why he has been so dominant.
The Yankees knew the kid could pitch, but he’s already heading toward a sky-high ceiling.
AL Cy Young Race
Schlittler seems to have one main competitor for the American League Cy Young Award: Toronto Blue Jays righty Dylan Cease.
Ironically, Cease also pitched on Wednesday night. He went six shutout innings as the Blue Jays romped over the Cleveland Guardians.
Voters will certainly take note of which of these arms finishes the season stronger as both teams chase playoff spots and positioning. If one can put an especially strong impression forward the rest of September, they’ll have a good chance of taking this big honor.
Yankees’ Cam Schlittler Makes Baseball History With All-Time AL Record