NEW YORK — The Yankees spent six months watching their ace Cam Schlittler overpower big league lineups. On the biggest night of his career, he finally met an opponent he could not win over.
She is gray. She has whiskers. And she was not in a celebrating mood.
Everything else had gone according to plan. Thirty voters had spoken, a Yankees legend had read the result on national television, and his parents were right beside him at home.
Then came the hug.
Cam Schlittler, fresh off being named the unanimous American League Cy Young Award winner, leaned in to embrace his cat, Arya, in a clip the Yankees shared on social media. Arya pushed him away.
The one rejection of Schlittler’s season
The clip is short, and the message is clear. Schlittler goes in for the embrace. The cat plants a paw and makes her preference for personal space known.
It was a rare sight in 2026. Big league hitters spent the year failing to push back against the Yankees right-hander at all.
He allowed one run or fewer in 21 of his 33 starts, a Yankees record. Opponents reached base at a .244 clip against him, the lowest mark in the league. Arya reached her limit after one embrace.
The snub did not spoil the Yankees ace’s evening. Schlittler celebrated at home with his parents, John and Christine, and still posed for photos with Arya. The truce, it appears, held at least until the cameras stopped.
A cat lover’s cruel twist
The rejection stung in part because Schlittler is no casual pet owner. He adopted Arya, a gray cat, in 2025, according to Yankees Magazine.
His affection for cats is not limited to his own. During spring training, he visited Cats & Caffeine, a cat cafe in Tampa, Florida, where he snuggled kittens and handed out treats, a local radio station reported.
The cafe sent him home with a hat embroidered with the word “meow.” He said it would become a game day hat.
Schlittler has also offered a theory that cats are usually nicer when they are tired. By that standard, Arya may simply have been well rested on Cy Young night.
Winning over everyone but the house cat
Few others needed convincing. Inside the Yankees clubhouse, the verdict on Schlittler’s season had been settled long before the vote.
“Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Schlittler, for his part, has never treated the trophy as the main prize. Asked about his season after the Yankees’ early October exit, he pointed to a goal Arya might find equally unimpressive.
“I’d rather win a championship,” Schlittler said.
Tale of the tape: Schlittler vs. Arya
The Yankees ace finished 2026 with a flawless record before the writers and a losing one on the couch.
Against the voters, he went 30 for 30 in first-place votes. Against Arya, he went 0 for 1 on hugs.
He struck out 239 batters and allowed just 129 hits in 193 2/3 innings. He earned $801,000 for the season, according to Spotrac, or about $3,350 per strikeout. Arya’s terms were not disclosed.
Schlittler also logged a 1.16 ERA in 17 road starts, the fifth lowest in a season since 1913. Home, it turns out, was the tougher venue.
The award the cat ignored
For the record, the honor Arya brushed aside is one of the rarest in the sport. Yankees‘ Schlittler went 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA and collected 210 points. Toronto’s Dylan Cease finished second with 110, and Cleveland’s Parker Messick was third.
Former Yankees ace Roger Clemens announced the result on MLB Network. Schlittler, 25, became the seventh Yankees pitcher to win the award and joined Ron Guidry and Gerrit Cole as the franchise’s only unanimous winners.
The trophy now belongs to Schlittler. The cuddle remains under review.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
