Cam Schlittler has shown up to the Yankees‘ Spring Training camp and immediately impressed, and while the right-hander was nothing more than a non-prospect entering 2024, he’s entrenched himself as one of the team’s best prospects. If the organization wants its farm system to regain its recent status as one of the best in the sport, they’ll need their already-existing prospects to step up especially since they’ll have just one top 100 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.
Last season was certainly a step in the right direction for Schlittler, who posted a 3.36 ERA and 3.60 FIP across three levels of Minor League action, and he flashed some of that upside in yesterday’s 4-0 loss to the Tigers. Tossing two scoreless frames with two strikeouts and a walk, Cam Schlittler showed off a strong fastball to go with an impressive array of secondary pitches, and he could make his big-league debut as soon as 2025.
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Cam Schlittler tossed 33 pitches in his first outing of Spring Training, and while his first inning of work was a bit rocky, he was able to work out of a jam and cruise the rest of the way. His four-seam fastball looked sharp, averaging 16.6 inches of IVB on that pitch which is an improvement over what we’ve seen at the Minor League level. Since being drafted, Schlittler has worked diligently to improve his fastball, going from 90-91 MPH to 94-95 on average while adding some more vertical ride.
Tack on the fact that he gets 6.6 feet of extension, and you’ve got a fastball that could be perceived as 0.5-1.0 MPH firmer than it actually is. He relied on that pitch heavily yesterday, but his prized weapons are his big lopping curveball and unique slider, both of which were able to pick up swings and misses when located well. His curveball has great two-plane movement, generating both drop and some lateral sweep thanks to the amount of spin Schlittler gets while releasing from a higher point than most pitchers.
He faced four left-handed batters which is why he utilized his curveball pretty heavily, and the pitch was able to steal strikes and get him out of jams in some pressure situations. What stole the show for me however was Schlittler’s sweeper, which is one of the more unique breaking balls in the game due to its vertical movement.
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As a result of an abnormal amount of ride, Cam Schlittler’s sweeper is a unique pitch that can befuddle hitters, and while the lack of depth on the pitch can be considered a bad thing, it ripped through batters all season last year. The pitch is vicious when located properly against right-handed hitters, and that simple mix of two breaking balls to play off of a solid fastball has proved to be very effective throughout his MiLB career.
What we didn’t see in this outing was his sharper gyro slider or his splitter, both of which are prominently used against left-handed batters. The Yankees had converted his lackluster changeup from last year into a splitter, so not seeing it was a bit disappointing, but it’s possible that Schlittler came into this game with a set plan of pitches he would go to. I still walked away very impressed with what I saw, and there’s a lot of excitement on my end regarding what Schlittler could become.
Cam Schlittler is one of the #Yankees top pitching prospects, and he looked NASTY in his two scoreless innings of work 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QS9IP1kOiA
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) February 23, 2025
The improvements to his fastball over the last two years are monumental and have made Cam Schlittler more than just a crafty right-hander. Now he can attack the top of the zone and pick up some whiffs with that pitch, and his ability to spin breaking balls is truly a thing of beauty as well. Last season, Schlittler was able to strike out over 29% of batters faced while boasting a GB% north of 51%, displaying an ability to both suppress damage contact and miss bats.
When a prospect can both miss bats and prevent damage contact, they become someone I focus on heavily, but the Yankees have had faith in Cam Schlittler from before he even broke out. They really like his profile and upside, and there’s a real chance that the team’s lack of upper-level rotation depth could accelerate his MLB debut. JT Brubaker just went down with an injury after tweaking something in the Spring opener, and Marcus Stroman could be traded as well.
He’ll likely get assigned to Double-A to open the season, but a fast start could push Cam Schlittler to Scranton pretty quickly. Eligible for the Rule 5 Draft at the end of 2025, Schlittler could find himself on the 40-man roster midway through the season if the situation calls for it, and this could be the season where he becomes a household name in Yankees’ prospect conversations.