Cam Schlittler completed a stunning four-year rise from seventh-round pick to New York Yankees ace to best pitcher in the American League when he was unanimously voted the Cy Young Award winner in balloting released Wednesday, Nov. 11.
Schlittler, 25, led the AL in both earned-run average (1.95) and pitching WAR (7.0) and struck out 239 batters over 193⅔ innings. He’s the seventh Cy Young winner in Yankees history but just the third since 1977.
Schlittler outpointed Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease, who notched his second career second-place finish, as he was runner-up for the Chicago White Sox in 2022. Cleveland Guardians rookie left-hander Parker Messick finished third.
Gerrit Cole was the most recent Yankees player to take home the top
pitching honor, in 2023. A year earlier, the Yankees used a seventh-round pick to select Schlittler out of Northeastern, believing he could add strength and ultimately velocity to his 88-mph fastball.
Cole succumbed to Tommy John surgery in March 2025 but Schlittler arrived for his major league debut in July, turning in 14 excellent starts before announcing his arrival on a grander stage in a dominant wild-card series clincher against the Boston Red Sox.
Schlittler channeled the momentum from that breakout into 2026, posting 11 starts in which he pitched into at least the seventh inning and gave up two or fewer runs. The Yankees won 21 of his 33 starts in his first full major league season.
All just a few years after Schlittler arrived needing a mechanical revamp and physical maturity to justify what the Yankees saw in him.
“They’re not going to baby you. This is professional baseball,” Schlitter told USA TODAY Sports earlier this year. “I took advantage of the resources I had, the coaches and teammates I had along the way and that’s why I’m in the position I’m in.”
Schlittler has emerged as the ace in a Yankees rotation that includes Cole and left-handers Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, a trio that arrived as free agents on nine-figure contracts. Schlittler still has two seasons before he's even arbitration-eligible and would be under team control through the 2031 season.
He's the first home-grown Yankees Cy Young winner since Ron Guidry in 1978.
"Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement released by the club. "He’s shown an astonishing amount of growth since we drafted him, and his success is no accident.
"Cam has a tireless appetite for hard work and refinement that has allowed his talents to truly flourish. This Cy Young is richly deserved."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees' Cam Schlittler wins AL Cy Young Award
