Yankees' Cam Schlittler is Making Aaron Boone's Decision Difficult

New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler hurled yet another gem on Wednesday night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball in a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Schlittler allowed just two hits, one of which was a solo home run off the bat of Vaughn Grissom. Otherwise, he was flawless, racking up nine strikeouts without issuing a single walk.

The right-hander now owns a 2.04 ERA on the season and is the frontrunner to win the AL Cy Young award, and now, Aaron Boone is facing a difficult decision.

Once the playoffs roll around (and barring a stunning turn of events, the Yankees will be in the playoffs), who will be New York's No. 1 starter?

Will the Yankees go with Schlittler, who has been dominant all year long and proved the bright October lights are no issue for him last fall? Or will it be Gerrit Cole, the wily, experienced veteran who already has a Cy Young award under his belt and has long been New York's nominal ace?

Well, based on what we've seen in 2026, it's hard to argue against Schlittler.

Cole has looked good for the most part, owning a 3.29 ERA while averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings over 18 starts. But he isn't quite the same impenetrable force he was during his prime.

To be quite frank, rolling with Cole over Schlittler would be more of a "veteran respect" thing than anything else.

As I stated earlier, it's not like Schlittler hasn't seen playoff action yet. He pitched eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks during his first ever postseason start against the Boston Red Sox last October.

Why not trust the 25-year-old to deliver again this time around?

Now, I will say that the whole "No. 1 starter" trope sometimes doesn't even really come to fruition. If the Yankees' rotation schedule is all mixed up by the time their first playoff game comes around, Max Fried could end up being the Game 1 starter.

But typically, teams like to arrange their rotation a certain way before the postseason, so surely, New York would like to have Schlittler and Cole as its 1-2 in some capacity.

Boone may be tempting to roll with Cole, and that's understandable. He's been there plenty of times before, and you can generally always trust him.

But can he really bet against Schlittler and his undeniable moxie at this point?

One thing is for sure: it's a great problem for the Yankees to have.