Schlittler drops ERA to 1.95, leads AL Cy Young race — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Cam Schlittler held the Mets to one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings in a 2-0 Yankees win Sunday, dropping his ERA to 1.95 — tied with Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski for first among qualified MLB starters.
- Aaron Boone said Schlittler "might be the MVP too," calling his season "awesome," though Houston's Yordan Alvarez remains the overwhelming AL MVP favorite and no pitcher has won AL MVP since Justin Verlander in 2011.
- Schlittler has distanced himself from Toronto's Dylan Cease in the Cy Young race, allowing one or zero runs in seven straight starts and in 21 of his 30 outings — tops in Yankees history.
- Schlittler leads the AL with 184⅔ innings pitched, already surpassing his prior career high by more than 20 innings, and his 228 strikeouts are tied for second in the league.
- Aaron Judge, a three-time MVP, said Schlittler is "the best pitcher in the game" and "got my vote for Cy Young," noting the Yankees leaned on their ace heavily during Judge's three-plus months on the injured list.
- Catcher Austin Wells said after the win that "the best is yet to come" for Schlittler, whose fastball touched 99.9 mph Sunday and who has now recorded eight-plus strikeouts with zero runs allowed six times this season — one behind Ron Guidry's 1978 franchise record.
Why it matters: Schlittler's 1.95 ERA puts him in rarefied Yankees air — only four qualified Yankees pitchers have finished lower since 1913 — and with two weeks left he appears to have locked up the AL Cy Young over Cease, giving the Yankees a clear ace as they head into the postseason after a summer carried by pitching while Judge was sidelined.
Ask SkimNews
