Revealed Cam Schlittler injury timeline gives Yankees fans more reason to worry

If the New York Yankees could be just a little more honest with their fans when soreness crops up, then maybe we wouldn't all be so prone to smashing the panic button. Instead, we're left questioning — or, worse, dismissing — everything the team tells us about injury maintenance, and more often than not, we're justified.

Such is the case with Cam Schlittler, who probably isn't battling anything severe at the moment, but is certainly facing something more daunting than we were initially led to believe. I'd call any injury that began in summer 2025 and is still lingering decidedly not minor.

Oh, you weren't aware that Schlittler's opposite-arm lat soreness began midway through last season? Yeah. The Yankees slid that bomb into Bob Klapisch's reporting on Wednesday morning.

Schlittler skipped a bullpen session at the start of camp after self-described "mid-back" and "lat" soreness. It wasn't long before he was back on the mound — he never stopped tossing, but ratcheted down the intensity — and even addressed the issue with some calming tweets later that evening. He's continued to throw, but has yet to face hitters or get into live Grapefruit League action. By definition, that means he's currently behind.

As Klapisch told us Wednesday, he's also been receiving regular treatment in an effort to cure the issue rather than continue to bury it. And it's working. But it might still be present because of Schlittler's eagerness to compete; he reportedly ignored the issue "after a late-summer flare up in 2025". 2025!

New York Yankees righty Cam Schlittler has been battling back injury/lat soreness since 2025 as he looks to make 2026 spring training debut

The pain receded after the Yankees' October run ended, but returned after Schlittler reported to Florida this February.

“I didn’t really take enough time off (in late October). I never gave it a chance to feel 100 percent," he told Klapisch while lingering between the shelf and the spotlight.

Schlittler's issue still hasn't spread anywhere close to his throwing arm, nor has it prevented him from continuing to work and build velocity. But it's already prevented him from learning the new pitches he intended to this offseason; he and the Yankees have now downplayed that priority. It also might be the reason he begins the season on the Injured List if he can't get into live action in the coming days, with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole already on the shelf.

Slow play is better than no play, and the Yankees have the depth to survive some early bumps and bruises in the rotation. It happens every spring. But learning that Schlittler's shrugged-off injury has actually bothered him since midway through his 2025 breakout? That's a phenomenal example of why fans always refuse to believe the first answer, and are usually right to do so.