The New York Yankees thought they had found a serviceable arm to aid the middle of their rotation when rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler made his MLB debut last July. By October, the organization might have felt they had a future ace on their hands as the 24-year-old tossed eight innings of shutout baseball in a win-or-go-home Wild Card Game 3 against the Boston Red Sox.
Despite a riveting first year with New York and boasting a variety of reasons to believe that he will ultimately develop into the kind of starter who could headline a rotation, Schlittler may experience real growing pains in 2026.
The righty might have caught teams off guard with his high-velocity fastball last season, but opponents will likely be ready to combat that aspect of his approach. Further, Schlittler’s willingness to learn a changeup is admirable, but it may not be a smooth process that grants him an instant tool that keeps hitters on their toes.
Cam Schlittler must diversify his pitch mix
Across 14 regular-season starts in 2025, Schlittler went 4-3 and posted a 2.96 ERA and a 3.74 FIP. According to Baseball Savant, the Walpole native threw his fastball 55 percent of the time. His cutter, curveball, sweeper, and sinker accounted for the other 45 percent of his pitches.
Schlittler ranked in the 89th percentile in Fastball Run Value last season, but only the 20th percentile in Breaking Run Value. With the offseason in full swing, he recently acknowledged that his fastball will continue to be his strength while he works to develop a changeup and utilize his other weapons on a more consistent basis.
“Obviously, I throw hard and have a good fastball,” Schlittler said. “[I have] good three variations of fastballs, where that’s still my strength,” Schlittler told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com “I just think there will be certain situations where a changeup, splitter, whatever it is — it’s going to help me neutralize some counts when I get deep into it.”
Opposing batters hit .178 against Schlittler’s fastball, and this mark could elevate next year. It would be unreasonable to expect the former seventh-round draft pick to significantly cut down on his fastball usage, but he will have to become more crafty in terms of where he locates the pitch and chooses to sequence at-bats.
Cam Schlittler’s changeup will take time to implement properly
Schlittler’s changeup will be a topic of discussion among fans and pundits for the early portion of the 2026 campaign. Conceptually, it should complement his heater and help generate more ground balls. While he also contemplated the idea of hurling a splitter, he settled on a changeup due to its practical usage.
“I’m probably more leaning toward a changeup, which might be easier for me,” Schlittler said on Yankees Hot Stove. “I think that’s an important pitch to include, just because I didn’t have that option down to lefties, or even to righties as well.”
It takes time to correctly deploy a fresh pitch, and Schlittler will be put to the test immediately. He will certainly begin the season in the majors and have the responsibility of leading New York’s rotation while Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt start their spring on the injured list.
“You’ve got Hall of Famers in there, Cy Young winners,” Schlittler said. “I have a lot of resources to go talk to these people, where I’m just trying to get better. They want me to get better, because we just want to win games.”
The Yankees are a franchise that has notoriously attempted to embrace a “championship or bust” mentality, and while Schlittler may endure some turbulence in 2026, these struggles may end up being a part of what pushes him to become New York’s ace down the road.
