With the AL Wild Card round right around the corner, the New York Yankees are being very mindful of how they manage the workload of their most important pitchers. On Thursday, in a contest against the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays, Cam Schlittler made his final start of the regular season in a 6-4 victory for the Yankees.
The Yankees limited Schlittler to just three innings of work on the night, and during his time out on the mound, he allowed just one earned run on three hits and one walk, striking out five. Schlittler ended the 2026 season with a 1.95 ERA in 193.2 innings of work (33 starts), blossoming into a full-blown ace in his first full season in the big leagues.
To put into even greater perspective just how brilliant Schlittler has been this season for the Yankees, in 25 of his 33 starts this season, he only allowed one earned run or fewer. That tied Sandy Koufax's record for most such games in a single season, which he set in 1963, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
Article Continues BelowThe Yankees ace is rubbing elbows with a few of the greatest pitchers in MLB history. Only he and Koufax have recorded a season with 25 such starts; not even Bob Gibson could do so (Gibson can only record 24 such games in 1968). And of those 25 starts, Schlittler didn't allow a single earned run in 10 of them.
Only 25 years of age, the sky is the limit for Schlittler, who appears to be the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young award this year. Dylan Cease is certainly worth considering for the award, but Schlittler's blend of consistency and elite play throughout the year should make him a deserving winner.
The 25-year-old ace was very good in the postseason last year as well, allowing just two earned runs total in 14.1 innings across two starts. Considering that Schlittler has four full days of rest between now and Tuesday for Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series, it makes sense to have him start that game to set the tone for New York this postseason.