Matt Blake just tabbed top Yankees prospect who could become next Cam Schlittler

There might not have been a bigger player development win for the New York Yankees in 2025 than the success story that was Cam Schlittler. The 25-year-old was known to very few — outside of the biggest prospect heads,— entering the 2025 season, but he hit the ground running and began scaling the minor league ladder rapidly.

The 2022 seventh-round pick was called up out of necessity, but quickly showed how dominant his blazing fastball could be. Fans now wait with bated breath to see what the next step for him will look like in 2026.

The Yankees aren't known for having a great farm system, ranking 23rd in ESPN's latest update, but one thing they have an impressive collection of is young, high-octane arms. That's led Brian Cashman to brag about the club's "young pups" and pitching coach Matt Blake to add some additional color, naming righty Ben Hess as a candidate to be the system's "next Cam Schlittler."

Matt Blake heaps praise on Yankees prospect Ben Hess, declaring him ahead of where Cam Schlittler was at this point last year

Hess came into the system with more notoriety than Schlittler did, being selected in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. The Alabama product is an imposing figure standing at a stocky six-foot-five, but battled injuries during his collegiate career, dampening his hype somewhat.

He began his professional journey last season at High-A Hudson Valley and posting an impressive 33.9% strikeout rate (though he walked 11.9% of hitters en route to a 3.51 ERA). Still, he impressed enough to get a promotion to Somerset and recorded the last seven starts of his season against Double-A competition. There, he maintained the strikeouts, K-ing batters 31.3% of the time and cutting his walk rate to 9%. He fared even better overall with a 2.70 ERA.

Blake included top pitching prospects Elmer Rodriguez and Carlos Lagrange as those he considers ahead of Schlittler at this point in their development, but didn't hesitate to include Hess in the group, saying, "All three of those guys have taken some nice steps in their development. They’re already in Tampa. They’re starting to ramp up, so we’re getting our eyes on them down there.”

Arsenal-wise, Hess is absolutely ahead of Schlittler, even the dominant version we saw in the playoffs. Schlittler's secondary stuff is still a work in progress, while Hess also has an electric fastball that can sit in the high 90s; he pairs it with a devastating curveball that has yielded exceptional results.

In addition, the hefty hurler has a slider that can confound hitters but can also get away from him. If he can firm up his control of that pitch, he'll have the kind of scary repertoire that includes three plus-pitches.

Blake is well respected in his field for good reason. Not only is he a great teacher, but he can recognize talent. He's doing that with Hess, who could be a fast riser this year.

A Schlittler-like leap isn't out of the question, and theres a chance that he surpasses Lagrange and Rodriguez and could make a big league impact this offseason. Perhaps that eases the blow of New York whiffing on adding a frontline starter this winter.