NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler won every first-place vote in the American League Cy Young race Wednesday night, leaving Toronto Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease in second place and adding another chapter to the Yankees pitcher’s increasingly contentious relationship with Boston.
The 25-year-old right-hander collected all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Cease received none, despite a season that put him among the league’s best starting pitchers.
The vote was a particularly sharp contrast between two AL East rivals. Toronto spent heavily to acquire Cease last offseason, while New York developed Schlittler after selecting him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft.
Boston had its own reasons to follow the outcome. Schlittler grew up in Massachusetts, pitched at Northeastern and has repeatedly frustrated the Red Sox, including in consecutive postseason meetings.
Hours after the award became official Nov. 11, the Yankees ace offered a one-word response on X that captured the vote’s decisive margin.
“Unanimous,” Schlittler wrote.
Yankees’ seventh-round pick beats Blue Jays’ $210 million ace
The Blue Jays signed Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract before the 2026 season. He responded with a 2.40 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 169 innings, ultimately finishing second in the AL Cy Young race for the second time in his career.
Schlittler matched Cease’s 239 strikeouts but worked 24 2/3 more innings, finishing with a league-leading 1.95 ERA and a 14-6 record across 33 starts. He also led AL pitchers with 6.2 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs.
Toronto’s investment produced an elite starter. The voting nevertheless showed the degree to which Schlittler separated himself during the regular season. Cease collected 22 second-place votes, six third-place votes and two fourth-place votes.
In total, Schlittler earned 210 points to Cease’s 110. Cleveland’s Parker Messick placed third with 84. Cease’s late-season shoulder trouble also interrupted his finish after a strong summer.
Cam Schlittler gives Red Sox fans another reason to regret his Yankees rise
Schlittler’s connection to the Red Sox rivalry predates Wednesday’s award. Raised in Walpole, Massachusetts, he played college baseball in Boston before the Yankees drafted him 220th overall.
He turned that background into an uncomfortable storyline for his hometown region. In Game 3 of the 2025 AL Wild Card Series, Schlittler struck out 12 Red Sox over eight scoreless innings as New York eliminated Boston.
When the clubs met again in the 2026 Wild Card Series, he opened Game 1 at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 29 with 6 1/3 scoreless innings, two hits allowed and 10 strikeouts. New York again moved past Boston in the series.
Ahead of his September postseason start against Boston, Schlittler described receiving negative messages from Red Sox supporters and said he used the criticism as motivation. His comments about keeping receipts added a personal edge to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.
An AL East vote with a rare Yankees-Boston twist
The vote contained another Boston detail that received less attention: Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray finished fifth, collecting 21 points, while Schlittler occupied every first-place slot. It gave three division rivals different places in the same awards conversation.
Schlittler’s 100-point advantage over Cease was larger than the entire 84-point total earned by third-place Messick. The margin was a product of unanimity under the voting system, which awards seven points for first place and four for second.
It also made Schlittler just the third Yankees pitcher to win unanimously, joining Ron Guidry in 1978 and Gerrit Cole in 2023. He is the seventh Yankees pitcher to claim a Cy Young Award overall.
The historical rarity underscores the contrast. Schlittler began 2025 in the minor leagues and made only 14 major league starts that season. One year later, he had established the lowest qualified AL ERA of 2026 and secured every first-place award vote.
Taunts still continue but answered
Rival fan skepticism about his Cy Young win surfaced in fan discussions. Many slammed his attitude, too.
KutterIsKing carried on his ant-Yankee tirade as usual “I’m not even joking if Cam Shitler wins the Cy Young I’ll deactivate my account” before the award. After the win, he posted, “Can we all just finally admit that this is one of the fakest cy young’s ever?.”
“HE’S NOT WINNING THE MVP,” the naysayer added.
Keeshan Dave, a Toronto fan, cried, “No, f**k the USA, and f**k America. Blue Jays don’t deserve to miss the playoffs this year, and Cam Schlittler doesn’t deserve to win the Cy Young. It’s scripted! Also if that hamstring injury didn’t screw Dylan Crase over this wouldn’t have happened!”
Against that backdrop, Schlittler’s Nov. 11 X post delivered a compact answer to doubters: “Unanimous.” The message was the perfect answer.
On Instagram, Attilio Durso reacted, “The guy couldn’t even handle the 2025 Blue Jays in a do or die playoff game.” Ken Fox (kgf363) went a level up, “Shows the NY media bias. He wasn’t that much better than cease.”
Travis Patterson claimed, “How does he deserve to be unanimous? He was marginally better than cease IF that.”
A Yankees supporter BronxBmbrz fought back, “Cam Schlittler let Red Sox fans hear it after he slimed them out in 2025 and for an entire year they called for his regression just for him to do the same thing again and then unanimously win the Cy Young lol.”
The Yankees followed it with an epic video.
Yankees’ Cy Young hero adds another chapter to AL East rivalry
Schlittler’s rise offers the Yankees a homegrown rotation anchor after a season that ended with another postseason disappointment. It also leaves the Blue Jays with a runner-up ace whose contract reflects Toronto’s determination to compete at the top of the division.
For Boston, the story is less about award mathematics than geography and recent October results. A Massachusetts-raised pitcher has become one of the most prominent Yankees arms in the rivalry, and his latest award reinforces that standing.
Schlittler acknowledged the importance of his family and the Yankees personnel who helped him develop in his televised award interview. The pitcher was joined by his parents, John and Christine, for the announcement.
“Obviously it’s a special moment for me and my family,” Schlittler said.
As of Thursday, the official result remained unequivocal: Schlittler first, Cease second, Messick third, and all 30 first-place votes belonging to the Yankees right-hander.
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