The New York Yankees have received a warning regarding breakout pitcher Cam Schlittler.
Cam Schlittler was not even viewed as one of the very top prospects in the New York Yankees' farm system heading into 2025. As a matter of fact, MLB Pipeline had six Yankees pitchers ranked ahead of him.
So when Schlittler was called up to the big leagues last July due to a rash of injuries in New York's starting rotation, no one knew what to expect from him.
Well, Schlittler proceeded to make 14 starts during the regular season, pitching to the tune of a 2.96 ERA while allowing 58 hits and racking up 84 strikeouts over 73 innings of work.
The 24-year-old then tossed a masterpiece in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox, striking out 12 batters without issuing a single walk in six eight scoreless frames.
Overall, Schlittler made 16 starts between the regular season and the playoffs, appearing to establish himself as a potential frontline starter moving forward.
But are we jumping the gun a bit too soon on the right-hander?
Greg Joyce of The New York Post thinks it's a possibility, noting that Schlittler is still a question mark heading into 2026 and cautions the Yankees against relying too heavily on the youngster.
New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images."But what does he do for an encore, with expectations now heightened?" Joyce wrote. "His high-ceiling presence may be part of why the Yankees haven’t gone hard for a free-agent starter. But they need him to deliver over a full season now, coming off a career-high workload."
Joyce makes a salient point.
Schlittler has tremendous stuff and may very well develop into an ace. I have been on record saying that within another year or two, he may ultimately be the alpha of New York's staff.
But we don't know for sure yet.
As outstanding as Schlittler was in 2025, it was still a rather small sample size, and we can't really gloss over the fact that he exhibited control issues on both the minor-league and major-league level.
Plus, health and durability are always issues when it comes to young flamethrowers. The Yankees know this all too well. Just look at their recent history with Luis Severino, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt. So no one can guarantee that Schlittler — who touches 101 mph with his fastball — will completely avoid injury.
Schlittler could be baseball's next superstar, but it's fair to have some level of reservation on the Massachusetts native going into 2026. All the more reason why the Yankees need to add another starting pitcher.