Why Yankees ace Cam Schlittler is in the AL MVP conversation and could join an exclusive club

If you shoot for the moon, you will land among the stars. In Cam Schlittler’s case, however, he and his blazing fastball may take him past the stars and straight to the moon.

The New York Yankees ace has been nothing short of dominant this season. The swashbuckling 25-year-old is all but a lock to win the American League Cy Young Award.

But why stop there? He should win the American League MVP too. Schlittler should become just the 12th player in MLB history to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season.

Heading into his final start of the year against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, Schlittler leads all American League pitchers in ERA (1.94) and is tied for first in WHIP with Drew Rasmussen (0.91). He has been durable, making all his starts, and is second in the AL in innings pitched (190 2/3).

With a devastating combination of cutters, sinkers and fastballs, the young right-hander has racked up 234 strikeouts, third in the AL behind Cleveland Guardians ace Gavin Williams (244) and likely Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease (239).

Schlittler has set a Yankees franchise record by allowing one or no runs in 21 starts this year. He became just the third pitcher age 25 or younger in the live-ball era, which began in 1920, to achieve the feat, joining Dean Chance (1964) and Blake Snell (2018).

Schlittler also leads the AL in bWAR with 7.0, ahead of other MVP contenders such as Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez (6.6), Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. (6.5) and Rays phenom Junior Caminero (5.6).

The numbers for Schlittler are outstanding, but they don’t tell the full story.

Schlittler has been the pillar of the Yankees' pitching staff, which leads all of baseball with a 3.21 team ERA.

While the pitching staff has been fantastic, it has have dealt with plenty of injuries to the starting rotation.

THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!

Gerrit Cole didn’t make his season debut until May 22, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Carlos Rodón began the season on the IL after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur and loose bodies and didn’t debut until May 10. That was just his first stint on the IL. He returned to the IL on July 3 and didn’t come back until Aug. 18.

Rodón was not the only Yankees ace to land on the IL twice, as Max Fried did as well. Fried first went on the IL with a left elbow bone bruise on May 13, right after Cole returned, and was activated on July 22. He went on the IL for a second time on Aug. 17 with the same injury and returned Aug. 29.

Ryan Weathers, who had been key in stepping up during the absences of Cole, Fried and Rodón, went on the IL on Aug. 23 with a left forearm flexor strain.

For the Yankees, not only was it paramount that Schlittler make every start, but it was also essential that he remain dominant to help keep the rotation afloat.

Adding to the pressure on Schlittler and the pitching staff as a whole, the Yankees’ offense cratered after Aaron Judge was placed on the IL at the beginning of June. Since June 1, the Yankees have hit a paltry .229 with a putrid .297 on-base percentage.

The Yankees’ offensive ineptitude put further pressure on Schlittler and Co. to win games without Judge.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

In 2023, the Yankees’ season went off the rails when Judge suffered a torn ligament in his toe. They went 25-31 without the captain and missed the postseason. The Yankees’ pitching staff in 2023, led by Cole, who won the AL Cy Young Award that season, had a 3.97 ERA, which was not enough to save the Yankees from finishing 82-80.

In 2026, the Yankees went 48-41 without Judge in the lineup, buoyed by the pitching staff’s excellence. Carried by the Schlittler-led pitching staff, the Yankees made the postseason and secured home-field advantage in the American League Wild Card Series.

While the Yankees didn’t catch the Tampa Bay Rays and win the American League East, they might have missed the postseason entirely if it weren’t for Schlittler.

By the award’s definition, Schlittler has been the most valuable player on his team.

Alvarez has been dominant in his own right. The hulking left-handed hitter, with a .316 batting average, 41 home runs and 102 RBI made a bid for the Triple Crown, but that seems out of reach.

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY OUTKICK NEWSLETTER

Alvarez has been primarily a designated hitter, filling that role in 131 of the 154 games he played this season. Shohei Ohtani is the only player to win an MVP as a primary designated hitter, and he did so after becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.

Unless Alvarez surges to win the Triple Crown, nothing he is doing this season is unprecedented or historic.

Alvarez’s Astros, who are 78-80, might miss the postseason despite playing in the American League West, a division that has been historically bad.

Bobby Witt Jr. has been his usual superstar self but missed 11 games due to injury and has also taken a slight step back from last season while playing for the AL Central-worst Kansas City Royals.Caminero, the linchpin of the AL-leading Rays’ lineup, trails Schlittler in bWAR by more than a full win. Still, his .274 average and 41 home runs leave him in the thick of the AL MVP race.

Despite the excellence of Alvarez, Witt and Caminero, Schlittler should become the first pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2011 to win the American League MVP.

Verlander, like Schlittler this year, led the American League in bWAR with 8.6.

Without Schlittler, the Yankees do not survive Judge’s absence. When the Yankees could hardly scrape together three runs a game in the dead of summer, Schlittler made sure it was enough to hold on.

Without Schlittler’s dominance and durability, the Yankees do not have the second-best record in the American League (91-67).

Without Schlittler, Yankees fans are in a complete state of panic because they might still be trying to secure a Wild Card berth in a weak American League.

At the sportsbooks, Schlittler is a long shot to win the American League MVP. But odds be damned, the award should be his. He has landed on the moon.