Cam Schlittler just gained key edge over Dylan Cease in Yankees-Blue Jays Cy Young race

Will Cam Schlittler win the AL Cy Young race? It still may be too early to tell but he certainly did himself a huge favor by throwing what could be his signature game of the year. In his dominant outing against the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 2, Schlittler gave up just one run while striking out eight in eight innings of work. He also happened to put to bed any notion that he's been unable to pitch deep into games.

Fanbases can get pretty protective over their favorite players, especially during award races. And that's perfectly understandable. What's hard to understand is the length that some have gone to try and discredit the year that Cam Schlittler has had for the New York Yankees. One of the most prevalent strikes against Schlittler all year has been an idea that the Yankees have worked hard to essentially stat pad his results by limiting his innings pitched. And the argument might just be as absurd as it sounds. 

The AL Cy Young race has pretty much come down to a two-man duel between Schlittler and Blue Jays' ace Dylan Cease. And for good reason. Each pitcher has been lights out all year and they only appear to be getting stronger as the season comes to an end. However, a small contingency of Toronto Blue Jays' fans have criticized the Yankees’ handling of Schlittler throughout the season. This has been an attempt to make Cease look even better by comparison. There’s just one problem.   

At 5.92 innings per start, the Yankees' star pitcher has routinely caught flak for being “coddled by the team” in order to protect his Cy Young award consideration. But compared to Cease’s 6.01 innings per start, the difference is negligible. Also of note, during the Blue Jays recent 11-0 rout of the Cleveland Guardians, Cease was pulled from the game after just six innings and 80+ pitches. Was it the right call for the Blue Jays to make during a blowout win in September? Absolutely. Should it impact his Cy Young resume? Absolutely not. 

Cam Schlittler has embraced the role of the Yankees’ new ace 

Even if the innings limit argument were completely true, what would the Yankees have to gain from removing their best starter early from games solely for an awards race? Yes, the Yankees' bullpen has been great all season. Well, at least some of the bullpen has been great. But the team is fighting tooth and nail to put themselves in the best postseason position possible. And they accomplish that by utilizing Schlittler as effectively as they can. 

Of his 29 starts on the season, Schlittler has gone at least six innings in 17 of those outings. He’s also gone seven innings or deeper six times. At the same time, his 171.2 innings pitched is by far the most he’s ever pitched in a single season throughout his career. So of course the Yankees will keep their 25-year-old pitcher’s best interest in mind when attempting to manage his season workload. If it were up to Schlittler, he’d probably want to pitch complete games every outing.   

Despite the cool demeanor of a crafty veteran on the mound, Schlittler is still just in his first full year in the big leagues. In fact, he only has 43 career starts under his belt. So he hasn’t had his career 2.96 FIP put to the ultimate endurance test. But as we saw in his 2025 postseason gem against the Boston Red Sox, Schlittler appears to be born ready to pitch in the big game when it matters the most. In the blink of an eye, he filled the role of ace when it was left behind by an injured Gerrit Cole, then never let it go.

We are in the age of analytics, which means teams use every tool at their disposal to give them an advantage to win ball games. Sending a fatigued starting pitcher back out there to face a lineup for the third or fourth time in a game just doesn't make that much sense anymore. A hitter's pitch recognition skills usually get keener with more exposure, and pitchers’ stats typically go down the longer a game goes on.

The AL Cy Young race has been fun to watch. No matter who takes home the award, both pitchers deserve recognition for their body of work over the entire season. But Schlittler has taken the lead over Cease fair and square and he doesn’t appear to be ready to just let it go.   

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