Cam Schlittler’s final start of the 2026 season wasn’t his sharpest outing. Against the Rays, the Yankees ace had trouble working deep, and he was pulled in the fifth. A rough first inning, made worse by shoddy defense, helped push him out there longer than he should have been, but the night still fell short of the standard he’d set all year.
That one game won’t define his season, though. Schlittler’s first full year in the Bronx was the kind that changes the way a team looks at its future. The 25-year-old finished with a 1.95 ERA across 193.2 innings and a 6.2 WAR, according to FanGraphs.
That’s why, when MLB Network holds its annual MVP Show, Schlittler belongs in the conversation even if he doesn’t win. He’s earned a place among the final three, which is no small thing for a player who arrived as a late-round draft pick and once sat in the mid-to-low 90s.
Now he’s a fireballer with pinpoint command, and the Yankees have something rare in him: a pitcher who looks built for the biggest moments. If this team is going to win a World Series sometime soon, Schlittler figures to be a major reason why. He looks like the kind of arm you’d want in Games 1, 4, and 7 of a seven-game series.
His rise matters even more because of what the Yankees are staring at beyond this season. Aaron Judge’s future is uncertain after an injury-plagued year, and he’ll be 35 next year.
If the lockout ends up canceling the year, he’ll be 36 the following season. In that sense, Schlittler and first baseman Ben Rice offer a way forward.
They’re the kind of cornerstone pieces that can keep the window open a little longer. Together, they combined for 10.4 WAR, and that kind of production gives the Yankees something to build around as Judge’s career moves deeper into its later stages.
So when Schlittler is sitting on that MLB Network set waiting to hear the American League MVP announcement, Yankees fans have plenty to appreciate. His leap from 2025 to now has been enormous, and even after another dismal postseason showing and 17 straight seasons of coming up short, he represents something the fan base can actually hold onto.
Judge and Gerrit Cole will keep getting older, but the Yankees do have reinforcements waiting. That’s what makes Schlittler’s season so important: it’s not just about one award or one start in September. It’s about a future that still has a pulse.
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Even so, the episode kept a familiar talking point alive around New York, where any criticism of the organization tends to carry extra weight after a disappointing postseason. Murphys explanation may have softened the edges of the original video, but it also underscored how quickly a casual aside can turn into another debate about the Yankees identity, and why the reaction around it has lingered. [Read more 🡒]