Yankees Rookie Primed To Claim Spot In Starting Rotation

The New York Yankees’ starting rotation has taken quite a few hits throughout this year that have altered the course of their season. It started in Spring Training, when their ace, Gerrit Cole, and last year’s AL Rookie of the Year, Luis Gil, both went down with long-term injuries (with Cole’s costing him the entirety of 2025). Clarke Schmidt also dealt with multiple issues throughout the spring before undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. This led to a heavy reliance on both Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, who have been arguably the best 1-2 punch in the American League thus far. 

Yankees Rookie Primed To Claim Spot In Starting Rotation

Still, you can’t win games with just 2 good starters. Rookie Will Warren has been impressive in his first full season, but the other two spots in the rotation are pretty much unclaimed. That, however, could change very soon. Another rookie, Cam Schlittler, is coming out of the gate as one of New York’s most promising young pitchers. The 24-year-old, who has 6 major league starts under his belt after Wednesday’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays, is pitching so well that the Yankees may have no choice but to give him a spot in their starting rotation.

Gem After Gem

Called up to the majors after Schmidt’s injury, the Yankees’ 2022 7th round selection has shown the potential to be a legitimate starting pitcher, despite making his debut less than a month ago. In his first 6 outings, the rookie has notched 29 2/3 innings, racking up 30 strikeouts with a 3.94 ERA. On Wednesday against the Rays, he even took a perfect game into the 7th inning before surrendering a single to fellow rookie Chandler Simpson. In his “worst” start (also against the Rays) on July 28, he tossed 4 1/3 innings while allowing 3 earned runs.

While these stats are not necessarily indicative of a potential star in the making, Schlittler has been at least decent in every start. He keeps his cool and trusts his stuff to get through a number of jams, which is very impressive for a 24 year-old who doesn’t even have 10 starts in the big leagues.

Fiery Fastball

Schlittler’s bread and butter are his four-seam fastball and cutter, which he throws 77.3% of the time. 22 of his 30 strikeouts have come off the four-seamer, which averages 98 miles per hour (the highest out of all Yankee starters). While he does have to work on his breaking pitches in order to maintain this streak of success, his fastball alone makes him a tough opposing pitcher. The Yankees haven’t had a pitching prospect come up from the minors and dominate in a long time, so this could mean that Schlittler is the real deal.

Future Star(ter)

Barring any further injuries, the Yankees are going to have an issue fitting Schlittler into their rotation next year. Cole, Fried, Rodon, Warren and Schmidt are all pretty much guaranteed to have a spot, which could unfortunately make Schlittler the odd man out. Of course, injuries do happen, so this likely won’t end up being a huge issue. But if one thing is certain after watching Schlittler this season, it’s that the Yankees are going to have to find a place for their newfound starter, because it won’t be long until he’s truly major league ready.