New York Yankees' Cam Schlittler is Winning the Paul Skenes Debate

During the offseason, trade speculation swirled around the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes after word leaked that Skenes said he wanted to play in the Bronx.

Not surprisingly, Skenes flatly denied ever saying such a thing, and considering he is under team control with the Pirates through 2029, it's probably a moot point anyway. Pittsburgh was never trading him over the winter, and it probably isn't moving him this year, either.

But if the Yankees did want to make a play for Skenes, it's blatantly obvious who the Pirates would immediately target in a potential deal: Cam Schlittler.

When the Skenes trade conjecture surfaced, Schlittler was at the center of it, which should come as no shock following the right-hander's brilliant showing in 2025, which included a historically great performance in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox.

At the time, most New York fans probably would have been just fine parting with Schlittler as part of a package to land Skenes. After all, Skenes had just posted back-to-back sub-2.00 ERA campaigns to begin his career.

But even then, I was skeptical.

I did not like the idea of the Yankees giving up on a 24-year-old who had already displayed such incredible postseason mettle, and someone who can touch 100 mph with his fastball while also featuring absolutely nasty movement.

Thus far in 2026, it's looking more and more like Schlittler should be untouchable.

Yes, the sample size has been small, but through seven starts, the Massachusetts native has logged a 1.51 ERA while allowing just 25 hits and racking up 49 strikeouts over 41.2 innings of work.

Schlittler leads the majors in FIP (1.53), WHIP (0.744) and K/BB ratio (8.17), and his 2.40 xERA is an indication that even if the flamethrower may be getting slightly lucky right now (.240 BABIP), he has still been absolutely phenomenal.

It's also important to note that Schlittler is keeping the ball on the ground when contact is made, flashing a 46 percent ground-ball rate. The fact that he has surrendered just one home run thus far is concrete evidence of that.

Not to discredit Skenes, but Schlittler has actually been better than the Pirates star in the early stages of the campaign, with Skenes sporting a 3.18 ERA and 3.16 FIP through his first seven outings.

Of course, a lot can change between now and the end of the year, and I am in no way saying that Schlittler is a superior pitcher to Skenes. But I am saying that if the Yankees do want to make a push for the latter, Schlittler should not be a part of a trade package.

New York would have to give up multiple top young talents in order to even have a chance of prying Skenes away from Pittsburgh, so keeping Schlittler out of trade discussions would be pivotal.

The Yanks have plenty of other young arms they can offer, Will Warren, Elmer Rodriguez, Carlos Lagrange and Ben Hess, to name a few.

But as far as Schlittler is concerned? The Yankees should avoid moving him at all costs, and he is proving that more and more with every start.

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