490 days ago, a lanky, 6’7” rookie from Walpole, Massachusetts, by way of Northeastern University, set foot on a major league mound for the first time at Yankee Stadium. It came just over three years after he was unceremoniously drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB Draft with a very inefficient delivery and a fastball sitting in the high-80s.
By the time he debuted in the major leagues, he was throwing 100 mph. Three months after his debut, he shoved his childhood team into a locker in Game
3 of the Wild Card Series with one of the best playoff starts in franchise history. And as an encore in 2026? He proceeded to put up one of the greatest pitching seasons in franchise history.
Cam Schlittler’s incredible rise as the Yankees’ ace of the present and future has been completed, as he was named the 2026 AL Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday night, doing so unanimously.
Schlittler was engaged in a heated race with Toronto’s Dylan Cease for much of the season, but the veteran faded with injury and ineffectiveness down the stretch, while the 25-year-old Schlittler wound up leading the American League in pretty much everything that mattered.
He finished the season with a 14-6 record, a 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 239 strikeouts in 196 innings, a 215 ERA+, 2.56 FIP, and 7.0 rWAR. His numbers are historic. He is the first pitcher in the Junior Circuit to have a sub-2 ERA in over 190 innings since 2000 Pedro Martinez. His ERA+ is a franchise record, surpassing the standard-bearer, 1978 Ron Guidry (208).
He is the seventh Cy Young Award winner in franchise history, joining the likes of Sparky Lyle, Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, Bob Turley, Roger Clemens, and Gerrit Cole, as well as the third unanimous winner, joining 1978 Guidry and 2023 Cole.
In the final voting total, he blew Cease out of the water, 210 to 110, by virtue of the Blue Jays’ ace receiving only 22 second-place votes. Parker Messick of the Guardians came in third, followed by the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen and Boston’s Sonny Gray.
Congrats, Cam!
