NEW YORK -- With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Cam Schlittler, after a dominant outing Sunday against the New York Mets that dropped his ERA to 1.95, is the clear-cut favorite to take home the American League Cy Young Award. His manager, however, thinks he should be considered for another piece of hardware.

"I think valuable is a good word," New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He might be the MVP too. I mean, he's been awesome. Just an awesome season."

Excluding Shohei Ohtani and his two-way exploits, a pitcher hasn't been named MVP since Clayton Kershaw won the National League award with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. Justin Verlander is the last pitcher to win AL MVP in 2011 with the Detroit Tigers. This season, Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez is the overwhelming favorite to win AL MVP with Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero likely to finish as runner-up.

Schlittler, 25, called his manager's endorsement "a great compliment," but he shied away from engaging in the possibility. He's taken the same approach to the Cy Young race, which has been a two-man competition between him and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease for most of the summer.

But Schlittler has distanced himself from the competition in recent weeks. The lanky right-hander took the mound Sunday looking to hush the Mets chants he heard during Saturday's 12-2 loss and did the job, holding the crosstown rivals to one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings as the Yankees took the three-game series.

It was the sixth time Schlittler has recorded at least eight strikeouts without allowing a run this season, behind only Ron Guidry's seven such outings in 1978 for the most in franchise history. He's allowed one or zero runs in seven straight starts and in 21 of his 30 starts this season, tops in Yankees history.

"I think the best is yet to come," Yankees catcher Austin Wells said after his club's 2-0 victory. "He's still getting better. And as he pitches more in the big leagues, he's going to learn more of what he's capable of and probably surpass that as well."

Schlittler's 1.95 ERA is tied with Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misierowski for first in the majors among qualified starting pitchers. Only four qualified Yankees pitchers have ever finished with a lower ERA since 1913. His 228 strikeouts are tied for second in the AL and his walk percentage is seventh. He has posted those numbers while leading the AL with 184 ⅔ innings pitched -- already surpassing the career high he set last year between the minors and majors last season by more than 20 innings.

"I feel good," said Schlittler, whose fastball touched 99.9 mph Sunday. "I feel like I've been able to take care of my stuff on and off the field. And I trust this training staff to point me in the right direction and they've been great in taking care of me. On top of that, just teammates being there to help too and guide me through, obviously, a career high in innings and workload."

He's been the ace of one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, one that carried the Yankees through the summer while the offense struggled with Aaron Judge on the injured list for more than three months.

Schlitter burst onto the scene last season when he threw 100 mph for the first time in his life in his major-league debut in July. The Massachusetts native took centerstage in a win-or-go-home Game 3 of the AL Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox and shut down his hometown team over eight innings. The Yankees projected a strong follow-up in 2026, but his first full season has surpassed all expectations.

"Every five days when I know he's going, as an offense it's just, 'Hey, grind down this pitcher, get one run and let him go do the rest,'" Judge said. "It's just impressive to see. It doesn't matter if we're on a losing streak, if the team's rolling, he's the same every single day. He shows up ready to pitch. Goes deep into ballgames for us when we need him to. Especially with the bullpen being beat up at times, we've been leaning on them a lot.

"He just continues to get better. It's just amazing to see all the way back to the Wild Card game, pitching in a big spot. This guy's amazing."

Judge, a three-time MVP winner, is one of four Yankees with the honor on their resume; Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt are the others. Chances are Schlittler won't join them, but to his peers his value cannot be overstated.

"He's definitely pitching like an MVP, but they got a Cy Young Award for a reason," said Judge, a three-time MVP. "Best pitcher in the game. He's got my vote for Cy Young."