Yankees counting on Cam Schlittler growing into a major-leaguer — quickly
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler reacts after walking a batter during the fourth inning of a game against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Noah K. Murray
There’s nothing like throwing 100 mph for an ego boost.
But those around Cam Schlittler see a lot more than the high-octane heater, and the Yankees’ investment in the 24-year-old fireballer for this tenuous playoff sprint shows the confidence runs both ways.
Calling up Schlittler from Triple-A Scranton was a no-brainer after losing Clarke Schmidt to Tommy John surgery in early July. But GM Brian Cashman went beyond that in holding on to Schlitter through the July 31 trade deadline — instead of dealing for a more proven starter — and then flat-out released Marcus Stroman (eating roughly $6 million in remaining salary to do so).
The Yankees could have played it safer and stuck with Stroman, an 11-year veteran, who may have chipped away at his 6.23 ERA. History is littered with much bigger mistakes. But this time, Cashman opted for the leap of faith, and Schlitter had shown enough by motoring through two minor-league levels this season, followed by mowing hitters down in the Bronx.
That continued Wednesday night, when Schlittler — after waiting out a nearly two-hour rain delay — allowed one run, two hits and struck out six through five innings in the Yankees’ 4-1 loss to the Twins. Overall, a solid effort, with Schlittler lowering his ERA to 3.94, the only regret being that he wasn’t able to stick around longer after cruising through his first three perfect innings on just 34 pitches.
Instead, Schlittler got bogged down by a pair of 10-pitch at-bats in each of his last two innings, ending his night after 86 total — still short of his season-high 97 pitches, but enough that manager Aaron Boone felt it was time to go to the bullpen (where the game subsequently blew up for the Yankees).
“I’m a rookie, so you got to earn that,” Schlittler said of staying for the sixth. “That’s going to take time and consistency, so no issues with that decision.”
Boone was hesitant to let Schlittler have another crack at Byron Buxton, who battled him for nine pitches, including fouling off five straight fastballs, before smacking a 99.3-mph four-seamer for a double in the fourth (that later set up the Twins’ tying run on a groundout). Schlittler opened the fifth with a 10-pitch K of Royce Lewis, freezing him with a slider, and he later stranded the go-ahead run at second by whiffing Brooks Lee on a curve ball then getting Trevor Larnach on a fly ball to center.
“He really kind of labored a little bit in that fourth and fifth,” Boone said. “But he set us up to win a game.”
Heading into Wednesday, Schlittler had leaned heavily on his fastball — using it 58% of the time — but upped that to 64% against the Twins, and his 98.3 mph average on the night was a few ticks higher than his previous for the season (97.9). He’s completed five innings in five of his six starts, but only made it as far as one out into the sixth in his July 9 MLB debut. His average fastball velo (97.8) ranks among the 95th percentile in the majors, but now it’s about getting everything else up to speed, too.
“I think the biggest adjustment is learning that you do belong here,” said Will Warren, another highly-touted prospect thrust into the Opening Day rotation to the rash of spring-training injuries. “You’re here for a reason. All the guys in this clubhouse believe in you, and then it’s about believing in yourself.
“You already do, to an extent. But it’s the full trust, the full confidence, that my stuff is good enough to beat this guy in the zone. And it’s just because you grow up watching guys like the Goldschmidts and the Stantons, then you go play these guys and you’re thinking, how am I supposed to get these guys out? But eventually you’re going to get into a rhythm, and you’re going to get more comfortable, and you’re going to beat guys like that on pitches that you thought were going to get hit.”
Warren, 26, knows from experience. He got hammered to a 10.32 ERA in his first five-start taste of the majors last season, but rebounded to become a crucial stabilizing force in the Yankees’ banged-up rotation this year (2.84 ERA over his last seven starters while pitching into the sixth inning in five of them.
That’s the frontier Schlittler is trying to reach, but the fastball alone won’t get him there. On Wednesday, he varied his mix for the strikeouts, dividing them equally between the fastball (2), slider (2) and curve (2). He graded those latter two secondary pitches a B-plus against the Twins. Perhaps Schlittler’s greatest weapon, other than the high-90s heater, is the conviction in how he throws it. The Yankees have zero concern over Schlittler’s mindset on the mound. He’s still a work in progress, but they like what they’re getting when they hand him the baseball. And the Yankees obviously want more of it.
“So far it’s been a good start to his major-league career,” Boone said before Wednesday’s game. “We need him, and we expect a lot from him because we think he’s very capable.”
Based on the Yankees’ precarious playoff spot, needing Schlittler is an understatement. He’s now got the weight of their October on his shoulders. That’s some real heat for a prospect more used to delivering it.
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.
