TAMPA — Twelve months ago, Cam Schlittler was a seventh-round draft pick opening the season at Double-A Somerset. He described himself at that point with one word: “sucked.” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake called him a “common right-hander.” Nobody outside the organization was paying attention.
That is no longer the case. Schlittler is lined up to start game two of the 2026 season against the Giants in San Francisco. Multiple scouts who watched him this spring told the New York Post’s Joel Sherman it was the best stuff they saw all camp. And the comparison that keeps surfacing is one the Yankees are not running from: a young Gerrit Cole.
A transformation unlike anything scouts have seen
The rise has been staggering. Schlittler came into the Yankees organization at 199 pounds. He steadily added weight and found that pitching at 215 to 218 pounds was his sweet spot. The gains in the weight room translated directly to the mound. A fastball that sat 92 to 94 mph when he was drafted now consistently reaches 95 to 98. His cutter hit 95 mph in his last start.
He added a cutter and differentiated it from his slider. He sharpened his curveball. Combined with his sinker and four-seamer, Schlittler now throws three different fastball variations, giving hitters three separate looks from the same arm slot. It is the same approach Cole has used throughout his career.
Sherman, who has covered the Yankees for 40 years, said on his “Three Things” podcast that he has never seen anything like it.
“I’m not sure that in my 40 years of doing this I’ve seen anybody come this far this fast from where he was, what the perception of him was even say 12 months ago, to where he is now,” Sherman said.
Blake, who knew Schlittler from the Boston area dating back to high school, pushed for the pick in 2022 along with Yankees scout Matt Hyde. Blake thought of Schlittler as a “common right-hander” when he was drafted. Neither could have predicted the velocity jump that followed.
The numbers back up the hype around the Yankees right-hander
Schlittler’s 2025 season reads like a prospect fast-tracked through a video game. He posted a 2.38 ERA at Double-A Somerset, a 3.80 ERA at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and a 2.96 ERA in 73 innings with the Yankees after his promotion in July. He struck out 84 batters at the big league level.
His rookie numbers actually beat Cole’s. When Cole debuted with Pittsburgh in 2013, he posted a 3.22 ERA in 19 starts. Schlittler finished at 2.96 in 14 outings for the Yankees. The comparison is about style and demeanor, not career projection. Cole was the No. 1 overall pick for a reason. But the DNA of their approach on the Yankees mound is strikingly similar.
The postseason sealed it. Schlittler got the ball for Game 3 of the Yankees’ wild card series against the Red Sox and delivered eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts. Even in the next round against Toronto, he was better than nearly every other Yankees starter. The Yankees trusted a second-year pitcher with an elimination-type game, and he responded.
“It’s like he’s a little bit of an AI program,” Sherman said. “He keeps getting better and better as things go along.”
Scouts cannot stop raving about what they saw this spring
Schlittler has made two spring starts heading into the final week of camp. His outing against the Blue Jays stood out. He threw 3.2 innings, struck out six, walked none and allowed two hits and one run. His first inning was 10 pitches, nine strikes and three strikeouts.
Sherman sat with multiple scouts at lunch the following day. Every one of them raved about Schlittler.
“To a man, the scouts were like, it’s the best stuff we saw this spring training,” Sherman said. “There is a little bit of a young Gerrit Cole vibe. That is pretty heady.”
One scout said you could not throw better than Schlittler did for those three innings. Another pointed to the confidence he pitches with, then added that if he had that stuff, he would be confident too. The scouts noted his willingness to attack the strike zone rather than nibble.
Schlittler himself has embraced the expectations. He told Sherman he expects to do “a lot of really, really terrific things” by October. When asked about doubters, his response was simple: bring them.
What it means for the Yankees rotation in 2026
Max Fried will start the opener. Schlittler gets game two. Will Warren is expected to pitch game three. The Yankees have three off days in the first nine days, meaning they could run a four-man rotation until April 11 before needing a fifth starter.
Luis Gil, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year, has struggled this spring and gave up three home runs in three innings against the Tigers on Sunday. His fastball has not returned to its peak form. Ryan Weathers has an 11.68 spring ERA. Both are in flux while Schlittler has locked down his spot.
Cole is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. He threw 10 pitches in his Grapefruit League debut this week, averaging 97.1 mph. The Yankees hope he returns by late May or early June. Carlos Rodon is also rehabbing from an elbow cleanup. When both return, the Yankees envision a rotation anchored by Fried and Cole at the top with Schlittler as a high-end third starter.
The Yankees are dreaming bigger than that. If Schlittler keeps improving at the rate he has over the past 12 months, he could become more than a complementary piece. He could become the kind of pitcher who changes October outcomes for the Yankees. Cole represents the accomplished veteran trying to get back. Schlittler represents the future that is already here.
A seventh-round pick who once described himself as a pitcher who sucked is now being compared to a former No. 1 overall selection. The Yankees will take it. And so will the kid in Yankees pinstripes who plans to prove it by October.
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