David Lennon: Yankees are half the team they should be as offensive freeze deepens
New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler delivers against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Cam Schlittler threw 96 pitches Sunday afternoon during a dominant 11-strikeout performance and allowed just three hits over seven innings.
Of those pitches, 85 were fastballs, generating 22 swings-and-misses.
The most astonishing part? Schlittler’s lone run allowed came on a 100-mph four-seam fastball that Atlanta’s Matt Olson muscled over the rightfield wall in the seventh to break a scoreless tie. His mistake? Falling behind 2-and-0 in the count, then needing to overpower him in the strike zone.
That’s the kind of razor-thin margin Schlittler and his rotation-mates are operating with recently. Despite some late heroics from Trent Grisham, the Yankees still stumbled to a 2-1 loss in 10 innings before a demoralized crowd of 42,533 in the Bronx.
Schlittler’s gem was another colossal waste of a brilliant outing, courtesy of the Yankees’ disturbingly AWOL offense, which has to be frustrating the guys paid to throw the baseball for a living. None of them would ever cop to such an admission. But as great as the rotation has been, pitchers stopped hitting back in 2022, so there’s only so much this staff can do when it’s their day to take the mound.
The Yankees’ starters have allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of their last 12 starts since July 28 for an ERA of 1.63 during that span. Over that stretch, Aaron Boone & Co. are barely over .500 (7-5), an insufficient record for a team not only trying to chase down the tenacious Rays atop the AL East, but also having to fend off the ridiculous surge by the sizzling-hot Red Sox.
What good is having Schlittler, the Cy Young favorite, teamed up with Gerrit Cole and Max Fried if their stellar efforts continually go for naught? And it’s not just about carrying this super-rotation into October. Last year again showed how important homefield advantage is for the Yankees, and they’re in real jeopardy of flushing that chance during these final six weeks of the regular season.
What else could Schlittler do Sunday? He struck out five of the first six, and the only baserunner he surrendered through six innings was on Mike Yastrzemski’s leadoff double in the third. Schlittler didn’t walk anyone for the 11th start this season and it was his 15th start of allowing one run or fewer -- both tops in the majors. Yet the Yankees couldn’t complete the sweep.
“It’s tough,” Boone said. “But that’s the reality of where we are right now. It’s also a big reason why I have the highest of hopes for our club still -- because of the guy that takes the ball every day and we have the ability to close out games. And I still fully believe that we are going to continue to get better offensively.”
Right now, the Yankees are half the team they should be, and it’s nowhere near good enough, which feels crazy to suggest when Schlittler & Co. are sawing through opposing bats like he did Sunday. He also put to rest any minor concerns that may have arisen from his previous start in Monday’s 13-7 loss to the Cardinals, when Schlittler was tagged for four runs in only three innings and served up a season-high five walks, a wildly out-of-character night for him.
Schlittler bounced back by blowtorching Atlanta’s hitters with his three-fastball attack, with velocity that was well above his season averages across the board. His four-seamer was at 99.2 mph (up 1.3), sinker was at 98.9 (up 1.2) and cutter was at 96.3 (up 1.7). Knowing Schlittler, if it seemed like he was on a mission to prove the Cardinals flop was an outlier, then he definitely was.
“I think just trying to be more locked in and control what I can control,” said Schlittler, who trimmed his ERA to 2.21, still best in the AL, ahead of Toronto’s All-Star starter Dylan Cease (2.28). “I feel like I had a good mentality and routine today.”
As for the arsenal being back to his old self, Schlittler added, “Yeah, it felt good. It felt like 100%. I was able to be confident in my stuff and try to get as deep as I can.”
Not that the Yankees were particularly worried about Schlittler. Glitches happen. But it’s always reassuring to see your Cy Young favorite at the peak of his powers come August. Schlittler joined the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski and the Guardians’ Gavin Williams as the only three pitchers to have a trio of starts with at least 10 strikeouts and zero walks this year. He’s also just the seventh pitcher in franchise history to do it, most recently by Cole in 2021, when he had six.
Schlittler has plenty of season left to match Cole. And Sunday, he made it look remarkably easy.
“That’s up there with as good as he’s been all year I feel like, which is saying something,” Boone said. “He was excellent.”
And for what? Another near-miss for the Yankees, who have averaged 2.83 runs over the last dozen games, a pitiful output that’s forced them to issue daily apologies to the pitching staff. It happened again Sunday with Schlittler.
“He was the same Cam as he usually is,” Austin Wells said. “Went out there and knew what he had to do. At the moment, those guys have to be almost perfect for us to be in the ballgame and they have been, which is incredible.”
Though fun to watch, Sunday’s dazzler was still an L, and if the Yankees fall short of the division title -- or home field for the wild card -- they’re going to think back to the one kicked away to Atlanta. Or the others too often squandered among this dirty dozen.
“It’s super-frustrating,” Jazz Chisholm said.
And that goes double for Schlittler, as the emotion is far too common for the Yankees’ rotation these days.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
