Yankees Budding Ace Makes It Look Too Easy

It's way too early to start forecasting how the New York Yankees season can go. A lot can happen between now, just six games into the year, and the final out of the World Series in November. While one wouldn't want to start making grandiose proclamations, effectively love bombing their team just a few days into 2026, about how this one is different from the rest, there's still a lot to be excited about.

That is especially the case when there is the potential to have a starting three in the postseason that features Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and the youngster, Cam Schlittler, who essentially burst onto the scene by necessity. The game against the Mariners was a potential playoff preview, and just like this current crop of Yankees, they want a shot at heading to the World Series after falling short to the Blue Jays last year, too.

For Schlittler, the night had some resemblances to an October start. The temperature was in the 50s. There were prolific sluggers in that Mariners lineup in Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan, and Josh Naylor.

The biggest similarity, though, wasn't the team or the crisp temperature. It was the fact that Schlittler, again, took a start into the seventh inning, dominating in ways few can in this league.

Schlittler's Day

Schlittler pitched 6.1 shutout innings. He only allowed two hits, didn't surrender a walk, and struck out seven.

Schlittler generated 13 swings-and-misses against that Seattle lineup. 11 were off of his fastball, and it's clear, with a hair less than 100 innings into his career, that pitch has a chance at being one of the most devastating in the sport.

On the season, Schlittler is 2-0, which is more wins than the team he grew up watching, the Boston Red Sox. In 11.2 innings, he hasn't allowed a run or walk and has struck out a whopping 15 batters. Not since Luis Severino was the fierce young cat in town have the Yankees seen such electric stuff.

Since debuting on July ninth, Schlittler has pitched 84.2 innings. His 2.55 ERA is seventh in the league during that span. Ahead of him are the likes of Christopher Sanchez, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, and Hunter Brown.

This season, he is one of four starting pitchers who have pitched a minimum of 10 innings without surrendering a run. Joining him are Jose Soriano, Sandy Alcantara, and teammate Max Fried—good company to keep.

A Dominant Staff

After the game, Schlittler remarked on how good his comrades in the rotation and bullpen are.

"I think the staff's dominant and the bullpen's been great as well," Schlittler told the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "The team as a whole, just feeding off each other and taking it each game, each start, and keep rolling with it."

Boone mentioned just how dominant the pitching staff has been as a whole. It hasn't just been Schlittler.

"What a week of pitching," Boone said, according to the Post. "Credit to those guys for, along with [Austin Wells] and J.C. [Escarra] and the pitching group, coming up with a really good game plan and those starting pitchers going out there and executing at a really high level."

To learn more about the Yankees from Opening Day and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!