Cam Schlittler's ERA+ Ranks Top 7 in 100 Years of MLB

Through 32 starts and a 217 ERA+ in 2026, Cam Schlittler is doing something only six pitchers have done in the last hundred years of baseball — at that minimum start threshold. @CodifyBaseball published the ranking this past Saturday, and it confirms what the numbers have been whispering all season: the 25-year-old Yankees starter sits above Jacob deGrom (2018), Zack Greinke (2015), and every Roger Clemens season except 1997 and 2005. The only person who can knock him down the list at this point is himself, in his remaining regular-season outings.

What a 217 ERA+ Actually Means

ERA+ is already adjusted for ballpark and era. A 100 ERA+ is exactly league average. A 217 means Schlittler has been 117% better than the average American League starter in 2026 — and Yankee Stadium’s effects on pitching stats are already baked out of the number.

The 32-start filter is where the ranking gets genuinely demanding. Pedro Martínez posted a 291 ERA+ in 2000 — the highest of all time — but made fewer than 30 starts that year. Greg Maddux hit 271 in 1994, also under 32 starts. Codify’s cutoff isn’t looking for the most dominant pitcher over a hot stretch; it’s looking for whoever sustained that level across an entire season, start after start.

With that filter, the last 100 years look like this:

258 — Bob Gibson (1968)
229 — Dwight Gooden (1985)
226 — Roger Clemens (2005)
226 — Paul Skenes (2025)
222 — Zack Greinke (2015)
222 — Roger Clemens (1997)
218 — Jacob deGrom (2018)
217 — Cam Schlittler (2026)

Reading that list is a masterclass in baseball history. Gibson in 1968, the pitcher’s season. Doc Gooden at 22 years old in 1985. Clemens twice. Greinke in Kansas City. DeGrom when the Mets were unwatchable and he was the only reason to tune in. And now Schlittler, in his first full big-league season.

First Full Season, Hall of Fame Numbers

Schlittler was a seventh-round pick by the Yankees in the 2022 Draft and made his MLB debut on July 9, 2025. In 2026, with Carlos Rodón and Max Fried both hitting the IL and Gerrit Cole not being the pitcher he once was, Schlittler became the unquestioned ace of a rotation held together with tape. He didn’t just answer the call — he’s been the best starter in the American League.

His 14-6 record, 1.94 ERA (second in the AL), and 234 strikeouts against just 47 walks make him the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award. A 6.6 bWAR — roughly six wins above a replacement-level starter — has also put him in MVP conversations, which is rare for a pitcher in the modern game.

One number that tells the whole story of his September: a 0.86 ERA in the final month of the regular season. Pitching well in summer is expected at this level. Doing it when playoff races are on the line and hitters have seen your full arsenal? That’s a different thing entirely.

He also became the fourth-youngest Yankee ever to post a 200-strikeout season — a list that includes names already in Cooperstown or headed there.

His road splits deserve a separate mention: a 1.10 ERA and 0.74 WHIP in 14 starts away from Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium suppresses offense for left-handed pitchers but actually hurts right-handers like Schlittler, so his numbers on the road are the clearest window into what he actually has. And what he has, per Codify’s ranking, is a season only six men in a hundred years have topped.