Yankees tea leaves hint compromised Cam Schlittler is still due for a massive honor

The New York Yankees will open the 2026 MLB season on Netflix — check your accounts now — with last year's ace Max Fried on the bump. Behind him? That's anyone's guess, given that 2025's playoff No. 2 Carlos Rodón is down for the count and Gerrit Cole (though he could give you 35 nasty pitches right now) won't be back until June, at the earliest. A little bit of digging might turn that guesswork into something more concrete, as YES Network's Jack Curry uncovered on Friday while checking through Cam Schlittler's box scores.

Turns out the Yankees' plans for his delayed spring debut might have factored in a little bit more than just pain management.

Schlittler didn't appear in a spring training game until Friday, March 6 after reporting to camp with recurring lat soreness (no, not that lat!) that dated back to last summer. The Yankees slow played him, built him back up away from the mound, then acknowledged well before his first outing that he wouldn't be a full go in time for the regular season.

Since returning, Schlittler has operated on a limited pitch count, but without any sort of limited arsenal. In fact, his cutter has peaked 3+ MPH higher than 2025's edition, and he's buzzed 100 routinely, somehow looking even brighter than he did in his debut season. That campaign ended with Romy González and Wilyer Abreu swinging through his predictable heater like they were wielding foam mallets in a win-or-go-home playoff game.

And now, if everything lines up correctly and he continues to go off without a hitch, he'll be the Yankees' No. 2 starter.

Who will follow Yankees' Cam Schlittler in first start after he reaches pitch limit?

Yes, unfortunately, this means the bullpen will come into play earlier than most Yankees fans would like it to this season. Thankfully, even if they have to lean on the 'pen in Max Fried's wake in the season opener, everyone will have had one day of rest before the second game on March 27.

Pending injuries, you can expect a regular season-opening five-man rotation of Fried, Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil, and Ryan Weathers (order to be determined for the final three). That means piggyback arms like Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough should be ready to contrbute after Schlittler departs, both of whom would provide a nice change-of-pace.

Of course, the dream piggyback option is the man who followed him in his buzzsaw second spring outing against the Blue Jays: Carlos Lagrange, a regular neighbor of Schlittler's on all stuff-based leaderboards. Maybe the Yankees will decide to go big before they go home from the west coast after all.

For now, Schlittler's elevation alone is cause for celebration.