ARLINGTON, Texas — Before this season started, nobody outside the Yankees organization was debating whether Cam Schlittler belonged in the same conversation as Jacob deGrom. By Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, that debate was over.
Schlittler did not just beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner. He outpitched him across six innings in front of a full house, then walked off the field with numbers that have not been matched in New York or around baseball in more than half a century.
The Yankees won 3-2, but the story of the night belonged entirely to their 25-year-old right-hander from Walpole, Massachusetts.
Numbers that belong in a history book
After seven starts in 2026, Schlittler’s career ERA sits at 2.43. That figure is the lowest posted by a Yankees starting pitcher through the first 21 games of a season since 1968, the minimum threshold set at 70 innings pitched. No Yankees starter in the 57 years between that era and the present day has carried a lower career mark through this point in a Yankees season.
The 1968 comparison alone would be remarkable. That year is known in baseball as the Year of the Pitcher, a season so dominated by hurlers that MLB lowered the mound afterward to help hitters. The fact that Schlittler’s ERA is competitive with that standard in 2026, when run-scoring environments have shifted dramatically, puts the achievement in an entirely different light.
But the Yankees’ record was only part of the story. The broader historical context was even more striking.
Only Vida Blue did this before, in 1971
Through seven starts and 41 and two-thirds innings in 2026, Schlittler carries a 1.51 ERA and 49 strikeouts before the end of April. That combination, a sub-1.55 ERA and 45 or more strikeouts before May for a pitcher aged 25 or younger, has happened exactly twice in MLB history.
The first was Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics in 1971. Blue went on to win both the AL Cy Young Award and AL MVP that season, one of the greatest individual pitching campaigns in baseball history.
The second is Cam Schlittler, 2026.
Those are the only two names on that list.
Schlittler’s 2026 stat line (April 28), category by category
| Stat | Figure | AL Rank | MLB Rank |
| ERA | 1.51 | 2nd | Top 5 |
| WHIP | 0.74 | 1st | 1st |
| Strikeouts | 49 | T-1st | T-1st in AL |
| FIP | 1.52 | 1st | 1st |
| fWAR | 2.0 | 1st | 1st |
| BAA | .168 | 4th | 4th |
| Innings | 41.2 | — | — |
His 0.74 WHIP leads all of baseball. His 1.52 FIP and 2.0 fWAR also rank first in the major leagues. He has more strikeouts than any pitcher in the American League, tied at 49. His .168 batting average against ranks fourth in baseball. In each of his last four starts, he has not allowed a single earned run.
Tuesday night: Schlittler vs. deGrom
Facing deGrom on Tuesday required a particular kind of focus. The former Mets ace, now 37 years old, entered the game with a 2.01 ERA through six starts this season, carrying the kind of resume that fills opposing dugouts with genuine concern.
Schlittler matched him pitch for pitch. He scattered three hits and two walks across six innings, struck out eight, and threw 64 of 92 pitches for strikes. He struck out Corey Seager twice in the same game, one night after Max Fried fanned Seager three times in a 4-2 Yankees win. Schlittler allowed a double to Seager early but retired 13 of the next 15 Yankees hitters after that. The Yankees offense did the rest.
Manager Aaron Boone was asked to describe the matchup between his young starter and the most accomplished pitcher on the Rangers’ staff.
“Two big, tall, lanky power-pitching righties. Obviously runs were tough to come by.”
Aaron Judge saw the duel from the closest possible vantage point. He was asked what it meant to watch Schlittler go up against a pitcher of deGrom’s stature and match him completely.
“[Schlittler was] going up against a future Hall of Famer like that and going toe-to-toe with him, it was impressive.”
Schlittler, when asked about the quality of the pitcher he had faced, did not shy from the size of the occasion.
“He’s an elite guy. He’s been one of the best pitchers for the last 10 years. Really cool to go up against him.”
What the Yankees have in their rotation
Schlittler debuted last July and finished his first big league season with a 4-3 record and a 2.96 ERA across 14 starts. He also threw eight scoreless innings in the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, striking out 12 without issuing a walk, becoming the first pitcher in postseason history to achieve that combination. The Yankees lost in the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays.
This year, with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both sidelined on rehab assignments, Schlittler has carried the Yankees rotation as its unquestioned anchor. The Yankees are 20-10, leading the AL East, and Schlittler has been the single biggest reason. His teammate Fernando Cruz described what the Yankees have in their 25-year-old starter, and the label he used was direct.
“Superstar. What he’s doing is really impressive. Throwing three pitches at one speed, but different directions, it’s something you don’t see too often in baseball. Right now he’s one of the best to step on the field.”
Cruz’s two-word verdict has become harder to argue with every time Schlittler takes the ball.
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