Cam Schlittler is having the kind of season most pitchers only dream about. A 1.71 ERA that leads the American League. A nearly identical strikeout total to Dylan Cease. A rotation spot on a first-place Yankees team that just won nine of its last 11 games.
And he couldn’t care less about the numbers.
“You don’t really notice those things. Obviously, the goal is to win a championship, so the statistics don’t really matter,” Schlittler told reporters after Friday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds, via SNY Yankees.
That start was the best of his career. Six innings. Four hits. Zero runs. A career-high 13 strikeouts. The Yankees won 5-0 at Yankee Stadium, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice both homering in the second inning to give Schlittler all the run support he needed.
It’s easy to say stats don’t matter when you’re sitting on a 1.71 ERA. It’s harder to believe a guy who just punched out 13 hitters in six innings isn’t at least glancing at the leaderboard. But Schlittler seems genuine about it. He’s not the type to get caught up in individual stuff. The Yankees have bigger goals anyway.
New York sits atop the AL East with a real shot at deep October baseball. Schlittler has been a huge reason why. He went from a reliable arm to an early AL Cy Young favorite basically overnight. His stuff is playing at an elite level. The command is sharp. The swing-and-miss rate is absurd.
The Bombers have been rolling lately. Their win over Cincinnati was the ninth in their last 11 outings. Schlittler is front and center for that surge. The rotation is deep. The bullpen is holding up. And now the lineup is starting to click at the right time.
New York and Cincinnati play again Saturday, then wrap up the series Sunday. The way Schlittler is pitching, the Reds probably aren’t thrilled about facing the Yankees again anytime soon.
Leave a Comment