It’s been a remarkable first couple of months to the season for New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler. That continued on Tuesday, when he held the Kansas City Royals to just one earned run in 6.0 innings pitched.
That’s left him with a 1.50 ERA through his first 12 starts of the season. MLB researcher Sarah Langs pointed this out on social media, adding that this has been a historic start to the season for Schlittler, going back to when earned runs were first recorded as a stat.
“Cam Schlittler has a 1.50 ERA,” Langs wrote. “That’s the second-lowest by a Yankee in his first 12 starts of a season since ER official (1913), behind only: 1914 Ray Caldwell: 1.46 (Caldwell did have relief apps between).”
In other words, it’s been more than 110 years, going back to the Dead Ball Era, since any Yankees pitcher has had as good a start to the season as Schlittler is having. From Lefty Gomez to Whitey Ford to Andy Pettitte, he’s having unique success. Now, the question is if he can sustain it through the Summer months.
New York Yankees SP Cam Schlittler is a Cy Young Favorite
GettyNew York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler
It shouldn’t be a surprise, given the start to the season that he’s had, but Cam Schlittler is more than in the Cy Young race. He’s arguably the front-runner.
FanDuel recently updated its Cy Young odds. There, Schlittler is listed at +100, which are the best odds of any individual player. The next closest is Dylan Cease at +600, though he was recently injured.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle recently added to that, naming Schlittler the front-runner for the Cy Young Award. Given that at this time last season, he was still pitching in the minor leagues.
“Dominance is the word that describes Schlittler best,” Doolittle wrote. “His strikeouts-minus-walks percentage (24.5%) ranks fourth in the majors, one spot ahead of Paul Skenes. When you pound the strike zone with swing-and-miss stuff, that’s dominance. The AL Cy Young leaderboard is pretty wild looking, but Schlittler is legit. The only question is how he might respond to what hopefully will be the highest innings totals of his young career. Last season, he threw 164 innings between the majors, minors and the postseason. He’s on pace for more than 200 this season, and that’s before we get to October.”
Former Yankee Dellin Betances Recently Shared His Praise for Cam Schlittler
GettyNew York Yankees SP Cam Schlittler
Former Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances recently took the time to share what he sees from Cam Schlittler. There, he had an interesting comparison to Jacob deGrom.
“Well, he’s throwing like 91% fastball, which is unheard of. Some guys I’ve talked to who have faced him, they’ve said he has the Lance Lynn pitch-mix. Lance Lynn threw a lot of fastballs. But what’s different is they said he has Jacob deGrom’s command,” Betances said.
“So as a hitter, you’re expecting a fastball. He’s only throwing fastballs. But you don’t know which way it’s going. You don’t know if it’s going left, you don’t know if it’s going right, or you don’t know if it’s going up. That’s what he’s done exceptionally well. And he added a cutter last year, and added more ‘rise’ to it, so it’s just missing barrels.”
Perhaps more important than any of that is Schlittler’s makeup. He’s already proven he likes the big moments that the Yankees expect to be a part of, going back to last season’s playoffs.
“The poise he has, he LOVES the atmosphere,” Betances said. “Like, there’s a guy who grew up in Boston and was kinda talking a little bit of crap. And in the playoffs, he throws eight innings. This guy’s electric. He’s been doing it all year. For me, he’s the Cy Young leader right now.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post New York Yankees SP Cam Schlittler Continues to Make Franchise History appeared first on HEAVY.