Yankees promote prospect Cam Schlittler: Can the RHP seize a starting rotation job?

Sports

add

Can prospect Cam Schlittler fill the hole in the New York Yankees’ starting rotation left by the departure of Clarke Schmidt, who won’t pitch again this season due to Tommy John surgery?

Schlittler, 24, will get his first chance to state his case when he makes his major-league debut versus the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees added Schlittler to the 40-man roster Wednesday, making room for him by designating right-handed reliever Geoff Hartlieb for assignment.

If the 6-foot-5 rookie righty can’t provide steady innings, the Yankees will have to push even harder to acquire a starting pitcher — though the club should probably go that route anyway, and it has surely already begun that evaluation process with the July 31 trade deadline three weeks away.

Some of the pressure should be lifted off Schlittler and the Yankees when reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil (lat strain) and veteran lefty Ryan Yarbrough (oblique strain) return sometime after the All-Star break. But it won’t be easy replacing Schmidt, who had grown into a reliable No. 3 starter, posting a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts this season.

Get out your Camera. 📸 #Yankees No. 10 prospect Cam Schlittler matched a career-best with nine strikeouts over six shutout innings.

6.0 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 9 K#WhereLegendsRise #RepBX pic.twitter.com/Lxi2l8SyCo

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) June 26, 2025

Schlittler particularly began to impress the Yankees over four starts (six appearances) in spring training. Two of those starts came in mid- and late-March — typically a time in which coaches watch veterans build their pitch counts. Instead, the Yankees liked so much of what they saw from the 2022 seventh-round pick out of Northeastern University that they had him face fairly representative (for spring training) lineups to further his development.

Schlittler continued his path to the majors by acing Double A, logging a 2.38 ERA in 10 starts and striking out 64 batters in 53 innings. After a promotion to Triple A, Schlittler had a 1.69 ERA in four starts before getting tagged for six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in his most recent outing versus the Philadelphia Phillies-affiliated Lehigh Valley IronPigs on July 2.

“I can see the starter profile here,” The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote about Schlittler after he watched that start in person, “but without an out-pitch, he looks more like a back-end guy, and I worry he’ll be homer-prone or at least prone to hard contact in the majors.”

Law added that Schlittler’s fastball touched 98 mph in the outing, but that his cutter, sweeper and curveball weren’t at their best. Before the season, Law ranked Schlittler as the Yankees’ No. 8 overall prospect.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake had high praise for Schlittler at the end of June. This is what he told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner:

“I just thought his presence in our minor leagues and in spring training games, having to take four or five starts against ‘A’ lineups, he held his own and has kept getting better as the season has gone on. As he keeps posting starts and keeps showing that he’s commanding the ball the way he needs to — obviously, the stuff is good. I think he’s putting his name in the mix if we need a starter in the second half.”

If Yankees fans needed extra reason to be hopeful, the club has done well in producing MLB-capable starters in recent years. Will Warren, whom the club drafted in 2021, has stumbled of late, but he’s shown flashes of brilliance. Schmidt was drafted and developed by the Yankees. They acquired Gil when he was in Rookie ball and developed him, too.

Schlittler’s name is officially in the mix. If he pitches well enough Wednesday, he might get a couple of weeks to prove to the Yankees they can count on him in the second half, and perhaps show that their rotation issues aren’t as worrisome as once thought.

(Photo: New York Yankees / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Horner se emotivně loučil v továrně Red Bullu. Verstappen zveřejnil vyjádření k jeho odchodu

Sports

Next

Ex-Real-Trainer verurteilt – Ein Jahr Haft für Ancelotti

Ancelotti Carlo