Cam Schlittler was ranked as just the #12 overall prospect in the Yankees minor league system according to MLB Pipeline entering 2025. After 76.2 innings in the minors to start the season, the Yankees were thin in the rotation and gave the kid a shot. He took his opportunity and ran with it, striking out the MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh with a 99.6 mph fastball in the first inning of his debut. He proved he belonged in the big leagues beyond that, pitching to a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts in the regular season, and followed that up with two great postseason starts against division rivals. The win or go home game against Boston was one of the best pitching performances you’ll see, as he threw 8.0 shutout innings with 12 K’s and no walks.
Schlittler’s spring got off to a slow start, as he dealt with some mid-back inflammation which slowed his ramp-up process. He didn’t make his spring debut until March 6th, when he threw 2.1 shutout innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. This start gave some insight into what we may see from Schlittler as he looks to build off his successful rookie year.
The first thing to note was his velocity which was still there. He averaged 98.7 mph on his four-seamer and 98.1 mph on his sinker. Both even up a tick from last season, where he averaged 98.0 and 97.6 on each pitch. With the back problems from earlier in camp, this was encouraging to see.
The eye-popping pitch however was his cutter. After throwing it just 21% of the time last season, he upped that mark to 43.2% on Friday night. Not only was the usage dramatically different, but the shape was what really caught your attention. The Induced Vertical Break (how much ride the pitch generates, IVB) was 10.9”, drastically up from just 4.8” last year. He was able to make this improvement while barely sacrificing any Horizontal Break (HB), as he averaged 6.9” of armside movement compared to 7.4” last season. While improving the shape of the pitch, he also saw a spike in velocity, averaging 94.9 mph after 91.9 last year. When looking at the relationship between velocity and IVB, you can see the chart below with all qualified cutters from 2025 where Schlittler would fall.
The two pitchers right beside Schlittler (green dot) are Corbin Burnes (circled in teal) and Spencer Schwellenbach (circled in red), pretty good company if you ask me. And the only pitcher to average more velocity with more IVB is Emmanuel Clase (circled in pink), with Yankees reliever Camilo Doval (circled in navy) not far behind.
Now for the relationship between velocity and HB, here you can truly see just how much of an outlier pitch (green dot) this really is. Schlittler’s cutter was already an outlier as his 2025 season (circled in red), but being able to maintain this HB while making the jump in IVB and velocity is special.
Schlittler’s cutter from Friday night looks eerily similar to 2021 Corbin Burnes’ cutter, his breakout season in which he took home his first Cy Young award, while throwing his signature pitch 52% of the time. Here are the numbers:
Burnes: 95.2 mph, 11.2” IVB, 4.2” HB, 6.4’ extension
Schlittler: 94.9 mph, 10.9” IVB, 6.9” HB, 6.5’ extension
These pitches are nearly identical, with the biggest standout being Horizontal Break, which actually leans in Schlittler’s favor by over 2.5”. Burnes had a 98th percentile fastball run value in 2021, even while missing five starts. The pitch wracked up an impressive 33.2% whiff rate, with a .254 xwOBA against. Both marks would’ve been best in the league among cutters in 2025.
This could answer the question as to why Schlittler and the Yanks quickly decided to ditch the changeup/splitter idea early in spring. At the end of the season and throughout the offseason, Schlittler and pitching coach Matt Blake spoke often about him adding an offspeed pitch to his repertoire, specifically to handle left handed batters more effectively. Once spring came, they suddenly said that the idea was scrapped. Could they have known the improvement to the cutter was coming, and decided the new offspeed wasn’t needed anymore?
So back to his first spring start. Here is the full breakdown of his short appearance of just 37 pitches, courtesy of TJStats via X. He mixed in some sinker and curveball as well, two pitches which he already featured last season. Overall, he attacked the zone well, got batters to expand the zone, swing and miss, and hit weak contact. All the ingredients to a good outing for a pitcher.
So, what does all this mean for his 2026 season? Schlittler’s new and improved cutter could bring him to another level, which (barring injury) could have him in talks for an all star appearance in Philadelphia mid-summer. Or, this very small sample of just 16 cutters could be an outlier, and this eye-popping outing will be forgettable. Schlittler’s got a lot of weight on his shoulders, as he will seemingly slot into the #2 spot in the rotation as the Yankees wait for Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole to return from injury. If Schlittler’s improved cutter can maintain these numbers from his first spring outing, he could fill that void and then some, and be poised for a huge season.