Why Cam Schlittler Deserves the AL Cy Young Over Dylan Cease and Parker Messick

With the 2026 MLB season over, it is now time to focus on awards to cap everything off. When it comes to the American League CY Young award, the finalists have been announced.

The three players in contention for the award are Dylan Cease from the Toronto Blue Jays, Parker Messick from the Cleveland Guardians and Cam Schlittler from the New York Yankees.

Everyone deserves their recognition, but it is Schlittler who deserves to win the award.

Cam Schlittler Offers the Most Complete Case

Schlittler led the American League with a 1.95 ERA while also having 239 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP. He even did so while playing the most innings out of all the finalists as his 193 innings beat out Messick’s 186, and Cease’s 169.

For Schlittler to produce the way he did while handling a large workload, his season deserves to be awarded. Cease still made an impact with a 2.40 ERA and 239 strikeouts, as did Messick with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts, but the award should go to Schlittler.