Somehow, the New York Yankees keep on developing unheralded talents to come out and produce for them on the mound. One such player is Cam Schlittler, who, despite being drafted in the seventh round in 2022, has emerged as a legitimate big-league talent who has been performing well for the Yankees in the heat of the playoff race. In fact, Schlittler earned the win for the Yankees in their 9-3 victory against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks (seven strikeouts) in 6.0 innings of work.
Schlittler was coming off a poor start on the fifth of September when he lasted just 1.2 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, with manager Aaron Boone pulling him early after he allowed four earned runs in a 7-1 defeat. Against the Blue Jays, the Yankees' 24-year-old starter's timing was off and Toronto's hitters were reading him like a book.
Thus, the adjustment Schlittler made in his latest win, which came against a Tigers team that's leading the AL Central with am 84-63 record, was to be more unpredictable — and it clearly worked for him and the Yankees.
“[The adjustment I made from last start was] probably not tipping my pitches. For me, that was something I worked on all week so for me to get out there and at least have a stretch [where I wasn't], you know, not giving them that slight edge made me more confident [to do] what I needed to do out there,” Schlittler told reporters, via SNY's Yankees Videos on X (formerly Twitter).
Cam Schlittler on the adjustments he made from his last start in tonight's game:
"Probably not tipping my pitches" pic.twitter.com/j6vm9oSPS5
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 12, 2025
It's not quite clear how Schlittler was tipping his pitches in his previous start, but the Blue Jays managing to demolish him in that short span does lend credence to his observation. In the big leagues, it's all about learning about past mistakes, and the Yankees youngster definitely did that.
Cam Schlittler has become a ray of hope for the Yankees
The Yankees have endured a few injury woes to their pitching corps all year, which necessitated the call-up for Schlittler, who has done nothing but impress in his short stint in MLB thus far. Even with his rough start against the Blue Jays last week, he still entered their Thursday night contest against the Tigers with a 3.24 ERA in 50 innings of work — a stat line buoyed by his excellent strikeout rate.
His walk rate can be unseemly at times, but it's clear that Schlittler's stuff plays everywhere. He lowered his ERA to 3.05 with his gem of a performance against the Tigers, and he might end up being a part of the Yankees' playoff rotation at this rate.
