The New York Yankees have made it to spring training, but already have a lot of starting pitcher injuries. Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are both expected to miss regular-season starts with elbow injuries. And on Thursday, their breakout star from the 2025 postseason suffered a setback. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch has the latest on Cam Schlittler's back injury from Yankees spring training.
“Cam Schlittler has ‘felt a tweak here and there' and is dealing with inflammation in the middle of his back, Aaron Boone said. They are going to keep him off the mound for now but he will continue throwing,” Hoch reported.
Schlittler made his MLB debut in July, posting a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts in the regular season. He helped stabilize the rotation after Clarke Schmidt went down with a UCL injury that will keep him out into the 2026 season. But Schlittler became a household name in the playoffs, firing eight scoreless innings to eliminate the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card series.
Boone's update is far from the worst-case scenario for the Yankees and Schlittler. He is not a part of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, so his first meaningful start is still over a month away. The Bombers open the regular season on March 25 against the San Francisco Giants. Schlittler is expected to start in that first series.
Despite the disappointing news on Thursday, Yankees fans should still be excited to see what Schlittler can bring in 2026. He helped save their season last year, pushing them into a tie with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the AL East. While his last start against Toronto was far from perfect, eight hits and two earned runs in 6.1 innings, it shows something to build on.
