Prospect Evaluation: Cam Schlittler

By Andy Singer

February 25th, 2025

Photo Credit - Dave Janosz

With Spring Training in full swing, most of our focus has been on the players who are fighting for Major League roster spots and on players who are most likely to help the Yankees in their pursuit of a World Series Championship in 2025. While that focus is certainly not misplaced, there are other really important things that bear watching in Spring Training. If I'm being completely honest, I never stop watching video and evaluating prospects, and prospect watching in Spring Training is among my favorite aspects of this time of year.

While I wasn't nearly as prolific in writing about prospects throughout this winter as I was in winters past, it doesn't mean that I haven't holed up on occasion to pour over statistics and video. Very early in the offseason, the statistics that jumped off the page for me were those of right-handed starter, Cam Schlittler. Prior to last season, Schlittler was a little-known pitching prospect. Drafted in the 7th round of the MLB First Year Player Draft, Schlittler came into 2024 known as someone with a good fastball and a lot of length, but not necessarily as a pitcher Yankee fans needed to know. Schlittler rose quickly from A+ to AA last season, even making an ill-fated cameo appearance at AAA for a spot start in June.

I started hearing rumblings in baseball circles about Schlittler in July last season, and I was embarrassed to admit that I really didn't know much about him as a pitcher beyond knowing his name from the Cape Cod Baseball League a couple of summers prior. Scouting the stat line when it comes to prospects is a universally terrible idea, but I would be lying if my first look at Schlittler's numbers gave me a fascinating impression. While Schlittler's ERA was middling in 2024 (mostly due to a couple of bad starts as he adjusted to AA and his disastrous spot start at AAA straight from A+), Schlittler's strikeout rate (29.8%) and manageable walk rate (10.6% overall, but 8.8% at AA) was impressive.

In December, I started digging deeper into Schlittler's profile, and got confused very quickly. The scenario I'm about to describe is case-and-point why you can't just take individual scouting reports for wrote; you have to do your own research, and it illuminates why opinions and valuations of players and prospects can vary so wildly from team-to-team. When I started reading scouting reports about Schlittler, there was almost no agreement about anything in his profile, except that he had a good fastball. Some scouting reports noted excellent stride length; others noted it as average. Some scouting reports credited him with emerging command of all pitches; others said he had nascent command of his non-fastball offerings. The reports didn't even agree about his fastball velocity. If I read any further, I probably would have found disagreements about his height and name spelling (I'm kidding, but you get the idea).

The divergence of opinions made me even more interested to watch video, as Schlittler is not one of the minor league pitchers I had been able to scout during the season. I came away from my video scouting really impressed; in fact, I would venture to say that Schlittler is likely one of the Yankees' 3 best starting pitching prospects, and I absolutely think he will be a big league starter in some capacity. There is significant development ahead for Schlittler, and there is much to discuss about his profile, but as long as he stays healthy (a caveat true of all pitchers), I think his floor is that of an up-and-down starter. That said, I think his ceiling is significantly higher.

I wanted to post this scouting report before all of the major scouting outlets figured out who Schlittler was . Unfortunately, life got in the way, and people are beginning to learn that Schlittler is a legitimate prospect; Eric Logenhagen ranked Schlittler as the Yankees' 5th best prospect overall, and their 2nd best starting pitching prospect. While our notes differ slightly, our overall rankings are similar.

Scouting Report

Schlittler managed a high strikeout rate at all levels of the minors last season, with a groundball-oriented approach (over 51% overall across all levels in 2024) and a walk rate that went from being unsustainably high at A+ (10.6%) to very manageable at AA (8.8%), given his elite strikeout rate and excellent groundball rate. Statistically, I should also note that Schlittler stranded fewer runners than average and exhibited a BABIP against that was higher than average. All-in, assuming those numbers regress in his favor, it's easy to see how Schlittler's positive numbers should be even better moving forward, even without further progression.

From a physical perspective, Cam Schlittler is an imposing presence on the mound. Most outlets have his height pegged somewhere between 6'6" and 6'7", and while his listed weight in most outlets is 210, it does appear that he's added some muscle weight since he was drafted, so I think it's likely that Schlittler is closer to 220-225 lbs. now. Schlittler stays very tall through his delivery as well, meaning that his release point is much higher than average, seemingly providing an advantage as the ball hurtles towards home plate. From a physical perspective, Schlittler is almost a prototype right-handed pitcher.

One thing that is immediately clear when watching video of Schlittler pitch is that he has a real feel for spin. I have already referenced Schlittler's reputation for his good fastball, and that matches with my look on tape. Schlittler's fastball sits in the mid-90s and from the video I've evaluated, peaks at 98 MPH when he reaches back for more. In all instances, the fastball just explodes out of his hand. Hitters have difficulty catching up to it whether it is thrown up in the zone or if it sits belt high. Just by sight, you can see that the pitch has a significant amount of life, and even from the limited number of pitches we have tracked by Statcast in the minors from last season, his average 4-seam spin of 2506 RPM is excellent. Likewise, Schlittler produces good movement on his curveball, a low-80s 12-6 offering that is quite good, but is a bit transparent out of his hand. Schlittler also utilizes two distinct sliders (some outlets classify his harder slider as a cutter, but given the locations Schlittler hunts with the pitch, I would classify the pitch as a traditional short slider), both with decent shapes that can put hitters away when sequenced correctly. The slower, sweepier slider sits in the low-mid 80s while the shorter slider lives in the high-80s. You can see all of the aforementioned pitches in the below video of Schlittler's 9 K effort at AA in mid-September:

Schlittler's stuff is good. On pure stuff alone, I would be inclined to give Schlittler's fastball a 65-grade (a number I don't hand out with any frequency), but it plays a half grade down due to a significant issue with Schlittler's delivery, and it is the first real discrepancy found in the publicly available scouting reports on Cam Schlittler. With Schlittler's height and long limbs, one would expect that his delivery would help Schlittler release the ball much closer to home plate. While some outlets credit Schlittler's delivery with these properties, video and limited statistics indicate otherwise. In every video I can find, Schlittler appears to be a short-strider, and Statcast pegs his average pitch release extension at just 6.3 feet, which is well below-average. As such, and unless I see real change to Schlittler's delivery, his fastball gets downgraded slightly to a still-plus 60-grade.

All of the other mentioned pitches are roughly average or slightly below; I have a 45-50 present day grade on all pitches. The short slider is the weakest of the bunch at 45, while the curveball is a true-grade 55 that plays down a half-grade due to the fact that it's perceptible out of the hand. The sweepier slider is an average pitch in all regards. Both sliders and the curveball work nicely when they are sequenced and located well, something Schlittler is still developing, though he made nice strides on both fronts as the season went along.

The biggest current issue that Schlittler has is the lack of a real offspeed option. Schlittler has thrown a change-up, but he really has poor feel of the pitch. Its velocity and shape is terribly inconsistent, it isn't located well, and it is obvious that Schlittler doesn't trust it. Schlittler doesn't need an offspeed pitch to reach the Majors, but he will need one to give lefty batters a different look. The development of a good offspeed pitch would also serve to bump Schlittler's projection up a level.

***Based on his upright arm slot, I strongly believe that Schlittler should experiment with a splitter. The Yankee pitch design staff have had a significant amount of success with getting pitchers over the hump with either a change-up or a splitter, and I think that Schlittler's slot and overall arm movement are better suited to a split than a change-up.***

***I wrote the above paragraph in late-December; at Yankee Spring Training, the early reports are that Schlittler showed up to camp with a splitter that was earning positive reviews...clearly, the Yankees agree with my thinking on this one, and it's a really good development for Schlittler. He didn't use it during his first Spring Training appearance in pinstripes, but it bears watching in March.

Schlittler is a very good pitcher, and with further command and pitch sequencing development, I think that Schlittler is a high-probability starter that seems primed to eat innings (relative to the modern game...think 160+ innings per season) and rack up strikeouts, while allowing a few too many baserunners to reach. That's a good mix for a solid 4/5 starter, who might be a bit better with a good defense behind him. If Schlittler can either increase his delivery's stride length without negatively impacting his pitch quality and control/command, he might be a mid-rotation starter; if an offspeed pitch, like the splitter, really takes and is an average pitch in addition to his current offerings, I think he's a mid-rotation arm as soon as next season. The latter development is far more likely than the former, which would be a fantastic outcome.

Even without much progression beyond pitch command and better sequencing, I think it's possible Schlittler could make his debut as a spot starter in 2025, with an eye on 2026 as the year that he makes his full debut by May/June. It is rare that I get to review a pitcher in the modern era that is definitely a starter, but Schlittler appears to be exactly that. Among the pitchers I have watched in the Yankee system, Schlittler is both the highest probability to remain a starter and the most likely to pitch significant innings in the big leagues. It's okay to get excited about Schlittler.