Cam

Schlittler

Schlittler struck out five opposing hitters on the night while permitting one base on balls. The Red Sox scratched out an unearned run against him in the second inning, then Carlos Narváez got him for a solo homer in the fifth. That was the extent of the damage. The 25-year-old right-hander got 11 whiffs on 96 pitches on the evening, registering a CSW of 25 percent. Pounding the strike zone and getting efficient outs allowed him to work deep into the ballgame, ultimately giving the Yankees time to take the lead and secure him a victory. Now 3-1 on the season, he’ll carry a pristine 1.77 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and a 41/4 K/BB ratio (35 2/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Rangers in Arlington.

Misfortune struck for Schlittler in the sixth when Trent Grisham misplayed a fly ball to center, which put runners on second and third with only one out. An RBI groundout by Vinnie Pasquantino on the following at-bat drove in Garcia from third to give the Royals their first run on the day, but it would be an unearned run for Schlittler, who lowered his ERA on the season to 1.95. It’s a tough no-decision for Schlittler, who exited with a one-run lead only to see that lead evaporate in the eighth inning via a solo homer by Pasquantino. Schlittler has allowed three earned runs or fewer in every start this season and will look to pick up his third win of the year on Thursday against the Red Sox in Boston.

Schlittler allowed four singles and a triple in the first two innings, producing all three runs. He finished with an impressive 21 whiffs in the 85-pitch outing, so as far as off days go, this wasn’t so bad. He’s 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA ahead of a start against the Royals.

Schlittler brought the heat on a frigid evening at Yankee Stadium, where temperatures hovered in the low 40s throughout the night, averaging 96.6 and topping out at 98.8 mph on his fastball. The 25-year-old rising star retired six straight before giving up back-to-back hits in the third inning before serving up a two-run double to Nick Kurtz, which snapped a streak of 14 consecutive scoreless innings to open the year. He also gave up a ground-rule double to Tyler Soderstrom that brought home an additional run in the frame. He’s been leaning more on is cutter and sinker this season and the results have been phenomenal with a microscopic 1.62 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and 22/3 K/BB ratio across 16 2/3 innings. Simply put, he’s pitching like a fantasy ace right now. He’ll face the Rays on Sunday at Tropicana Field to close out a two-start week.

Schlittler is on another level right now. He’s still yet to allow a run or even walk a batter this season to go along with 15 punchouts across nearly 12 innings of work. In this start, he threw his three fastball variations a combined 88% of the time and the Mariners were completely helpless against them. His four-seamer led the way with 11 swings-and-misses and both his cutter and sinker played off it perfectly. Combined, those pitches had nearly an 80% strike rate as he had no fear challenging the Mariners’ hitters in the zone because they couldn’t touch him. At this rate, Schlittler looks like he could be on his way to ace-status. He’s scheduled to face the Athletics at home in his next start.

Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval and David Bednar finished up with 3 2/3 hitless innings. The Yankees wanted to keep Schlittler at 70 or so pitches today, yet he was able to get 16 outs anyway. He recorded four strikeouts with his fastball, which averaged 98.5 mph, and only two of the nine balls in play against him were hit hard. Based on how he’s looked since day one this spring, he should be one of the AL’s better pitchers if he remains healthy.

That means Luis Gil is the odd man out, at least for now. It’s unclear if he’ll remain back at the team’s spring training facility to keep working and stay stretched out as a starter or if he’ll head north with the team and operate in a long relief role out of the bullpen for the time being. Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers will start the club’s first four games.

The Yankees were off on Schlittler’s previous day to work, so he ends the spring having pitched just 9 2/3 innings and giving up one run in three outings. He’s probably not going to be ready to throw 90-100 pitches right away in the regular season, so that might cost him a win early on. It should be fine to use him in mixed leagues anyway.

Schlittler struck out the side in an electric opening frame and lived consistently in the mid-to-upper-90’s with his fastball, cutter and sinker in this one. It’s encouraging to see him out there hitting the upper-90’s consistently after dealing with a back issue early on in camp. The 25-year-old righty should be a top-30 range starter in fantasy drafts this spring and offers some significant strikeout upside based on what he showed in the upper minors and with the Yankees in his big-league debut last year.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out four batters on the night. Schlittler got himself into a jam in the opening inning, issuing a one-out walk and a pair of singles to load the bases with two outs, but he was able to get Hunter Feduccia to bounce into a fielder’s choice to quell the threat. From there, it was smooth sailing. He saw a significant spike in his velocity in this one, with his fastball sitting at 98.7 mph (+0.7 mph) and his cutter checking in at 94.9 mph (+3.0 mph). He sure looked to be over the back issues that plagued him early in spring camp.