KANSAS CITY — When baseball people talk about Yankees rising star Cam Schlittler, one of the first things that always comes up is his pitch mix:
His three different elite fastballs are why Schlittler has a league-best 1.50 ERA in 12 starts, why the 6-foot-6 right-hander is an early American League Cy Young Award frontrunner.
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Here are the stats on his heaters prior to his dominating start Tuesday night against the Royals:
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Four-seam fastball, 97.8 mph, 45 percent usage, .196 opponents’ batting average.
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Cutter, 94.1 mph, 27.9 percent usage, .154 opponents’ batting average.
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Sinker, 97.3 mph, 18.3 percent usage, .183 opponents batting average
This was before Schlittler was dominating against Tuesday night against the Royals, one run on four hits over six innings with six strikeouts and no walks in a Yankees rout.
There’s more to Schlittler than pure stuff, though.
Manager Aaron Boone detailed what else he likes about his 25-year-old ace during his Tuesday pre-game media session:
“I like his competitiveness. He’s got that ‘I’m gonna rip your heart out’ competitor thing to him, but he’s also very even keeled and laid back. So he strikes a good balance.
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“He’s very easy to talk to and give feedback to, whether it’s positive or negative. And I think he does a really good job of assessing what just went on in an outing and are there adjustments that need to be made, are there not, what’s next to work on, and I feel like he’s able to apply things really well.
“He definitely wants the ball. He expects to go out and not only pitch well, but dominate. He has that mindset. Some people want to have that mindset, but don’t have the confidence to go with it. He certainly does.”
Boone also has seen continued growth since 2025 spring training when Schlittler impressed in big-league camp before starting the season with Double-A Somerset. The 2022 seventh-round draft pick out of Northeastern was in Triple-A by early June, debuted in the big leagues on July 9 and ended a whirlwind year with two outstanding postseason starts, including eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks when the Yankees took out the Red Sox in Game 3 of a best-of-three Wild Card Series.
In his first 12 starts this season, Schlittler allowed no earned runs five times, one run four times, two runs once and three runs twice.
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“I think over the last 18 months he’s obviously had a lot of success, coming up through the minor leagues,” Boone said. “But to see the adjustments he’s been able to make I think speaks a little bit to the talent and the adaptability and the ability to apply things. His arsenal has adapted over the last 18 months, over the last 12 months, over the last six months, over the last three months.
“It’s evolved, and that’s a credit to his ability to make different adjustments, take things that coaching give to him and go put it to use. He’s done a good job with that.”
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