I don’t think anyone reading this blog needs to be reminded of just how special a season Cam Schlittler is having, but this article needs an intro, and I love info dumping, so here goes. As of now, here’s where Schlittler ranks among qualified MLB starting pitchers in the following categories:
ERA: 3rd
FIP: 3rd
xFIP: 5th
Innings pitched: 3rd
The only reason why Cam isn’t ranked higher is because Cristopher Sánchez and Jacob Misiorowski are having all-time seasons. For the time being, Cam will have to settle
for merely being the best starter in the AL. Still, if Schlittler keeps pitching like he has, it won’t be long before his name starts to be mentioned in the “best starter in MLB” conversations alongside the aforementioned duo.
Obviously, any team would be ecstatic to have a pitcher of Cam’s caliber emerge from the farm. However, as a Yankees fan – and I think many of you would agree – it feels like it’s been an especially long time coming for us. And I don’t think it’s just my homerism speaking; it really has been quite a while since we got to celebrate a world-beating young starter in the Bronx.
Consider the Phillies and Brewers, who developed and currently employ Sánchez and Misiorowski, respectively. How long has it been since their last homegrown top-flight starter? For Milwaukee, it really hasn’t been that long, as Corbin Burnes debuted in 2018 and proceeded to take the league by storm in 2020-2021. For Philly, it’s been a bit longer, but not that long; Aaron Nola has declined sharply of late, but from his debut in 2015 to 2022, he was legitimately one of the best young starters in the game.
When, then, was the last time the Yankees developed a legitimate ace? Luis Severino immediately comes to mind, and rightfully so – his 2017-18 run was utterly dominant. However, injuries derailed an extremely promising start to his career, and we never really got to watch Sevy lay waste to the league for as long as we’d hoped. For fans waiting for a homegrown Yankee ace, Sevy definitely delivered; it’s just that his reign was far too short.
The picture becomes a lot darker when we turn our eyes towards the pre-Sevy years. To wit: from 1990 to 2026, 17 different pitchers amassed at least 100 innings for the Yankees between their age 19-25 seasons. This list becomes even shorter once we remove the pitchers who did not graduate from the Yankees’ farm system, such as Masahiro Tanaka, Chien-Ming Wang and Nathan Eovaldi. Of that group, Sevy’s 12.3 fWAR ranks 2nd. To find a pitcher that accumulated more WAR as a young high-end starter, you’d have to go all the way back to Andy Pettitte. That’s quite the wait.
It’s not like the Yankees’ system failed to produce anything during the intervening years. There were young arms that showed promise, but ultimately, they did not live up to the lofty expectations placed on them; some still managed to carve out decent big league careers, while others did not last long, or at all.
The first example that comes to mind is Phil Hughes. For those of us who endured his Yankees tenure and all those home runs he gave up, it’s hard to remember that he was a highly regarded prospect – and boy, was he ever. Prior to the 2007 season, he was ranked the #4 prospect overall by Baseball America. Yet his high-water mark with the Yankees was 3.0 fWAR in 2010, when he went 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA over 176.1 innings. Never did he become the “homegrown ace” prophesied in his Baseball America blurb.
Then came the Killer B’s; Dellin Betances, Andrew Brackman, and Manny Banuelos. As with Hughes, this trio captivated prospect evaluators. Baseball America ranked Betances as the Yankees’ 3rd best prospect in 2007, and 5th best in 2009. The same publication ranked Banuelos 4th in the Yankees’ system in 2011, while MLB placed him as a top 50 prospect overall. Brackman was heralded as a Top 100 prospect by Keith Law for ESPN in 2008. They were supposed to lead the Yankees to the promised land. Instead, Banuelos and Brackman never amounted to much, and Betances found success only after turning to a relief role (although I must admit, he was really fun to watch as a reliever).
Given this history, as Yankees fans it’s only natural for us to celebrate Cam Schlittler’s rise to the extent that we are doing. It really has been a long time since an actual ace emerged from the farm, and when you consider how Luis Severino’s tenure ended the way that it did, it’s no wonder we were left wanting more. Here’s hoping that Cam enjoys better luck than Sevy and manages to avoid serious injury as he continues to ascend to elite status. Only a long, healthy career would truly quench our thirst for a homegrown ace.
