NEW YORK — Cam Schlittler keeps doing this to the Red Sox, and on Sunday afternoon he did it again at a sold-out Yankee Stadium. The young right-hander carved up Boston one more time, and by the time he walked off the mound, he had quietly placed himself in company that almost no pitcher in the sport’s history can claim.
The Yankees have a genuine ace on their hands, and the numbers Schlittler is putting up are no longer just promising. They are historic.
Another quiet afternoon against Boston
The outing itself was vintage Schlittler. He worked 5 2/3 innings against the Red Sox, allowing just four hits and a single earned run in the Yankees’ 6-1 win. It was the kind of steady, dominant start that has become his signature in only his first full season.
The lone blemish came on his final batter, when Willson Contreras lined an RBI double with two outs in the sixth. Even then, the damage was minimal. His four-seam fastball averaged 97.5 mph on the day, down from a peak of 99.6 mph earlier in the season but up from his previous start against Cleveland. The result dropped his ERA to a sparkling 1.87 and marked his ninth start this season allowing one run or none.
For a Massachusetts native facing the team he grew up rooting for, tormenting Boston has become a recurring theme worth pausing on.
The first rare club he entered
Here is where the afternoon turned historic. With his strikeouts piling up against Boston, Schlittler joined a list so short it almost defies belief. According to Codify, he became just the third pitcher in Major League Baseball history to record 160 or more strikeouts with an ERA below 2.40 in his first 28 big league games.
The two names ahead of him are staggering. The only other pitchers to do it are the late Jose Fernandez, one of the most electric young arms the sport has seen, and Paul Skenes, the phenom who has dominated the National League since his debut. For a Yankees pitcher who was barely on the national radar a year ago, sharing a list with those two is a remarkable leap.
That context matters. These are not arbitrary numbers. They measure sustained dominance over a meaningful stretch, and Schlittler has delivered it from the very start of his career.
A second club with a Yankees legend
The history did not stop there. Schlittler also etched his name next to one of the most beloved arms in Yankees lore. Per Katie Sharp of Stathead, he is now one of just two pitchers in franchise history with a sub-1.90 ERA and 85 or more strikeouts through his first 14 games pitched in a season.
The other is Ron Guidry, whose legendary 1978 campaign remains a benchmark for Yankees pitching greatness. Guidry won the Cy Young Award that year and authored one of the finest seasons any Yankees starter has ever produced. To be mentioned alongside him this early is a powerful statement about where Schlittler’s career may be headed.
For Yankees fans who lived through that 1978 magic, the comparison carries real weight. For younger fans, it is a sign that they may be watching the beginning of something special in the Bronx.
The numbers behind the breakout
The full body of work supports the hype. Schlittler has been remarkably consistent since arriving, and the figures tell the story of an emerging star.
This season, the 25-year-old has made 14 starts for the Yankees, posting a 1.87 ERA with an 89-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 82 innings and a 7-3 record. Stretching back to last season, he has made 28 career starts with a 2.38 ERA and 173 strikeouts over 155 innings. His command, his velocity, and his poise have all translated immediately to the highest level.
His history with Boston only deepens the story. Last October, Schlittler took the mound in the AL Wild Card round and threw eight shutout innings to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs. That performance kicked off an ongoing rivalry with Boston fans, and Sunday was simply the latest chapter of him getting the better of them.
The timing could not be better for the Yankees. With Aaron Judge sidelined by a fractured rib, the team needs its pitching to carry the load, and Schlittler is doing exactly that. Some have already begun calling him the American League’s answer to Skenes, a label that would have seemed far-fetched a year ago. For the Yankees, the emergence of a homegrown ace at age 25 is the kind of development that can shape a franchise for years, and Boston is learning that lesson the hard way.
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