Pirates fans who called out Yankees for Paul Skenes trade sure are quiet now

The idea of coming up with a fair trade offer for Paul Skenes seemed impossible a year ago. The New York Yankees apparently tried their hand at last year's trade deadline and were quickly laughed off the phone. One of the key pieces offered to Pittsburgh in that rumored deal was Cam Schlittler.

Earlier in the season, MLB Insider Jim Bowden made some waves when he said the Pirates should've taken the deal. He made the point that Schlittler, who at the time would have six years of team control, plus the trio of Carlos Lagrange, George Lombard Jr., and Spencer Jones, would have provided more value than Skenes alone. Pirates fans didn't like that very much.

Now, it's getting harder and harder to prove him wrong. Lombard Jr. is tearing up Double-A to the tune of a 1.087 OPS and spent last week tormenting three-time All-Star Zack Wheeler while the Phillies' ace was trying to get some rehab work in. Lagrange became a spring phenom who seems destined for dominance, whether that be in the rotation or the bullpen. Jones might be the league's biggest boom-or-bust prospect, in more ways than one.

It's Schlittler, though, who makes the deal look lopsided in the Pirates' favor these days. It's becoming impossible to deny that the 25-year-old is an upper-echelon ace.

Cam Schlittler is becoming the Yankees' very own Paul Skenes, and the Pirates should be kicking themselves

Based on what the metrics say, Schlittler has become the best starter in the MLB thus far in 2026. He ranked first in xERA, xFIP, strikeouts, fWAR, BB/9, HR/9, K/BB, and SIERA through April 17. That's after getting off on a delayed start due to a back issue this spring.

Ok, so it's only five starts. That's not a large enough sample to anoint him, yet. But if you go back to last season, he's neck-and-neck with Skenes statistically. Schlittler debuted on July 9, and here is how the pair shakes out from that point forward.

The numbers are pretty close, and they get closer if you were to exclude Schlittler's first three career starts when he was trying to find his feet. Given recent trends, it looks like they will only move closer to each other as time goes on.

Skenes got off to a horrible start in 2026 when he lasted just 2/3 of an inning and surrendered five earned runs against the miserable Mets. There were several excuses to be made for the performance, but it was the worst start of his career.

What has made Skenes one of the most effective pitchers in the game is his ability to rack up a ton of strikeouts while giving up a minuscule amount of walks. In 2026, Schlittler incorporated that into his game, striking out a whopping 34.3% of batters while walking just 2.9% of the hitters he's faced.

Thanks to the rumor, these two will be compared for a while, and we have to believe that if the Pirates now approached the Yankees with the same framework, it would be New York that says no. Schlittler is ascending to the point where he'll be considered right there with Skenes as one of the very best in the game, and has become virtually untouchable.

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