How good has Cam Schlittler been?
For the Yankees ace, his “C” game might stand for Cy Young.
Even without his usual pinpoint control, Schlittler was good enough to smother Toronto in a 3-1 Bombers victory Friday night.
“I got deep enough to put this team in position to win, and that’s great. I’m not happy overall with my performance, it could’ve been a lot better. But we won the game and that’s all that matters,” Schlittler said.
“You don’t want to be selfish about it, right? At the end of the day, we won the game, and that’s all that matters. So, it was a lot I can improve on.”
Schlittler (11-6) scattered six hits in six innings, holding the Blue Jays to a lone run. Though he issued three walks and threw just 59 of his 96 pitches for strikes, he still found a way to limit damage and come out with the outs he needed.
His 98 mph four-seam fastball induced a pop-up from Myles Straw to end the fourth inning, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position.
“He was just struggling to throw strikes consistently, and certainly like he normally does,” said Aaron Boone. “Last week [in Toronto] — other than not finishing necessarily great — he threw the ball really well. [This] was a little different. But it’s not always going to be perfect. And for him to find a way to get us six innings and get a ton of big outs on the night is a testament just to how good a pitcher he is.”
The lanky righty lowered his ERA to just 2.16, tied for the fourth best by a Bombers starter in the expansion era. He also snapped a tough-luck string of four straight no-decisions.
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“Unfortunately I’ve done that a few times, not having my best stuff. But the positive is the offense is great, defense is great behind me, and just try to minimize whenever you can,” Schlittler said. “I’ve been able to hold runners on base a lot. I don’t appreciate the way they get on, it’s self-inflicted. But being able to get myself out of those jams and trusting the guys behind me makes things a lot easier.”
It marked his MLB-leading 19th start this year with one earned run or fewer, tying Fritz Peterson for the third most by a Yankees pitcher since 1913, when earned runs became an official stat. Only Ron Guidry (21 in 1978) and Whitey Ford (20 in 1964) have more.
The 25-year-old has been one of baseball’s biggest breakout stars of the year, and kept pace with Jacob Misiorowski as a Cy Young favorite.
“Cam kind of struggled, frankly. [He] finished pretty well. The fifth and the sixth might’ve been his best innings. Struggled to get in the rhythm but didn’t break, and made some big pitches when he needed to,” Boone said. “Anytime he was backed into a corner, up against it, the best of the night came out. So that was good. For him to give us six strong and one run, make those early runs stand up, was big.”
