TORONTO – After just two majors league starts, Cam Schlittler knows where he wants to spend his foreseeable future.
That would be the Bronx, though the decision isn’t up to him. With rumors swirling around the rookie right-hander and the Yankees in need of a third baseman, multiple relievers and established rotation help, it’s possible Schlittler is moved before the July 31 trade deadline.
He knows all this, including the fact that it’s out of his control.
“Obviously, you know it’s there, but at the end of the day, I’m still a Yankee and trying to be a Yankee,” Schlittler told the Daily News. “It’s not something I can worry about right now. So I just gotta block it out and keep trying to do my job day-to-day.”
Schlittler did his job effectively on Tuesday night, holding the Blue Jays to two earned runs over five innings. While the 24-year-old had to grind against a pesky Toronto lineup, walking three, striking out three and allowing seven hits over 90 pitches, the end result helped the Yankees secure a much-needed 5-4 win over a division rival that leads them in the standings.
Afterward, Schlittler’s teammates came away impressed with his high-90s heat, as well as his demeanor.
“Slow heartbeat,” Cody Bellinger said. “Poised. I think the stuff is electric, as everyone can see.”
“He’s dominant, man,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. added.
Aaron Boone, meanwhile, said that he first took note of Schlittler’s confidence and “quiet intensity” back in spring training.
“He’s not real animated, but there’s a fire burning in there, which I liked in spring training,” the manager said before Tuesday’s game. Afterward, Boone added, “You see his stuff really plays.”
All those attributes have made Schlittler, a 2022 seventh-round pick who shot up the Yankees’ minor league system and prospect rankings, attractive to other teams as well. His debut against the Mariners on July 9 only put a brighter spotlight on him, as he flashed 100 on the radar gun while striking out seven and allowing three earned runs over 5.1 innings at Yankee Stadium.
Schlittler, who dealt with some bicep soreness over the All-Star break, first became aware of trade rumors after a friend recently passed along a joke. Schlittler has since been in contact with his agent, Mark Pieper, just to stay in the loop and decipher what’s real and what’s nonsense.
“I’m just trying to figure out the possibilities,” Schlittler said.
While Schlittler reiterated that he’s not getting caught up in the rumors, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake did say he’s reinforced the idea of staying focused with the young flamethrower.
“There’s obviously a lot of noise around us in a lot of ways, and the deadline amplifies that,” Blake said. “But at the end of the day, we can’t control that. He can’t control that. So it’s really just like, ‘What can you do to help us win today?’”
If Schlittler gets his wish, he’ll be helping the Bombers win for years to come.
He’s not the only young Yankee who craves that, as minor league teammate Spencer Jones, another hot commodity thanks to ridiculous numbers at Triple-A, told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner that he wants to play and stay in New York earlier this week.
Told of those comments, Schlittler echoed the same sentiment.
“I think being a Yankee is kind of a different thing in terms of the sport and everything that comes with it, the good and the bad,” Schlittler said. “So yeah, I agree with him there.
“That’s the goal: come up as a Yankee, stay a Yankee, and hopefully play here for a long time.”
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