Cam Schlittler Should Start for the Yankees
- E.J. Fagan
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
By EJ Fagan
June 26, 2025
***
NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission. This was published a few days ago so the stats don't include the last few games.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
***
Ryan Yarbrough is going to be down for a bit. Luis Gil is still at ways away from returning. The Yankees need another starter. I think it should be Cam Schlittler.
Alan Winans got the start the other night. He was the only real option available on two days notice. To be fair, Winans had a 0.90 ERA at Triple-A, but he’s a 29 year-old journeyman whose fastball averages 89. He’s a Quad-A guy at best. He should go right back down.
The other ready options are Brubaker and Stroman. Brubaker might work, but Stroman is cooked. He’s another guy who throws 89.
Schlittler should be a no-brainer here. He’s a 6’6” 225 lbs college righty. 24 years old. He started the 2025 season as pretty much the best pitching prospect in the Yankees farm system. He pitched a full 120 inning workload in 2024. Basically, he’s a real prospect.
His 2025 season is going about as well as you could ask for. Before a quality start last night, his stats were: 68 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 11.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 between Double-A and Triple-A. He was promoted two weeks ago and struck out 24 batters in 15 innings.
And this was last night:
His 4-seam fastball velocity would rank 16th in the majors among starters. His fastball spin would rank around 40th. The curveball and slider were graded as plus by scouts this offseason. Real major league stuff.
Schlittler is a very conventional starter to call up. He’s a good prospect with great stuff having a great season. Maybe you would want to give him a few more Triple-A starts in an ideal world, but there’s no obvious red flags that he needs to address.
Calling him up feels like a real no-brainer to me. The upside is pretty big: you get another young, cost-controlled starting pitcher for the next six years. He could even be really good! There aren’t a lot of major league players who are 6’6” with his stuff. Even if he’s merely okay, you could have another long-term back end starter to complement Will Warren.
The downside? He has a few bad starts and you send him back to Triple-A. I guess his trade value could take a hit.
We’ll see what the Yankees do. I feel like we’re headed for another Marcus Stroman call up, but they could prove me wrong.
Stroman was a disaster the other night. Schlittler was GOOOOOOOD last night. First thing, pitch Rodón on Sunday against the A's. Next decide today if they want Schlittler to pitch against Toronto next week, if they do, get him to the Bronx ASAP so he throws his side session with the the Yankees coaches here. Then between now and Monday or Tuesday and figure out how to get him on the 40 man roster.
Schlittler is going to be good
but it's better for the team if they can bring back Stroman for a couple of games in order to show that he's healthy can serve as a starter
so that they can trade Stro to some needy team in exchange for a reliever.
as a matter of business, the organization might wish to delay Schlittler's call-up until late in the season and return him to the minors until a month or more after the beginning of the 2026 season.
Yarbrough might be ready to return after Stroman gets two starts or perhaps after Winans pitches one or two more times after Stro's audition.
only if Yarbrough is unable to return do the Yankees…