The New York Yankees have had a lot of good pitchers. None of them did what Cam Schlittler has done in his first two starts of the 2026 season.
Six months after a breakout performance in the 2025 postseason, the right-hander has become the first pitcher in Yankees history to open a season with back-to-back starts of at least five scoreless innings and at least seven strikeouts, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
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He made that second start Wednesday, striking out seven and throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners. He allowed two hits total and walked none, retiring the final 15 batters he faced.
It was pure dominance by Schlittler, to the point that 18 swings against his four-seam fastballs made contact only seven times, per Baseball Savant.
Schlittler was pitching in Double-A this time last year, but quickly rose up to the big leagues and firmly established himself as a member of the rotation going forward. He entered Yankees lore in the wild-card round last year, when he struck out 12 in eight scoreless innings of a winner-take-all game against the Boston Red Sox.
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He was limited by back and lat issues during spring training this year, which limited him to only 68 pitches in his season debut against the San Francisco Giants last week. He still managed to strike out eight and allow only one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
Really, the only thing that’s been able to stop Schlittler this season is a pitch limit.
It’s been a dominant showing by the Yankees rotation overall this season. With Schlittler’s gem Wednesday, they’ve now combined to throw 33 2/3 innings while striking out 35 and allowing only two earned runs.
The win improved New York’s record to 5-1, the best mark in the American League.
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