Schlittler Breaks 122-Year Yankees Pitching Record in 2026

In 122 years of Yankees baseball, no pitcher had ever done what Cam Schlittler did on September 8, 2026. Facing the Rockies, he threw seven innings — 10 strikeouts, 3 hits, zero walks, one run — and with that outing became the first pitcher in franchise history to allow one run or fewer in 20 starts in a single season. Ron Guidry (1978), Whitey Ford (1964) and Jack Chesbro (1904) had each reached 18. Schlittler passed all three of them in one night.

A Record That Spans Four Generations

The stat, tracked by Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports), isn’t a sabermetric novelty. Starts allowing one run or fewer is a direct measure of how often a pitcher leaves the offense with the game essentially untouched. Not a shutout, not a quality start — just the simple question: how many times did you keep the other team off the board, or nearly so?

2026 — Cam Schlittler: 20
1978 — Ron Guidry: 18
1964 — Whitey Ford: 18
1904 — Jack Chesbro: 18

Twenty times this season, Schlittler has handed the game back to the Yankees lineup with the score intact or nearly so. The three pitchers who shared the old mark — Guidry in his unanimous Cy Young season, Ford during his 1960s dynasty run, Chesbro in the dead-ball era — topped out at 18. Schlittler got there with weeks of regular season still to play.

The Night He Sealed It: 10 Strikeouts, Zero Walks

Against Colorado, Schlittler delivered what has become his calling card in 2026: velocity, command and almost no hard contact. Seven innings, 10 strikeouts, zero walks — his fourth start of the year with double-digit punchouts and no free passes issued. The only damage was a solo home run by Adael Amador in the third inning. That was it.

The Yankees won 5-3 on a three-run home run by Heliot Ramos in the eighth, but the story of the night was already written by the time Schlittler walked off the mound. According to Statcast, hitters are making contact at an average exit velocity of just 88.5 mph against him, and his xwOBA allowed sits at .268 — 90th percentile across all of MLB.

MLB.com reported that Schlittler’s 2.04 ERA through his first 30 starts is the fourth-lowest by a Yankees pitcher since 1913, behind only Spud Chandler (1.64 in 1943), Ron Guidry (1.77 in 1978) and Stan Bahnsen (2.01 in 1968). That’s Hall of Fame company.

The Cy Young Case, by the Numbers

As of September 8, Schlittler is 12-6 with a 2.04 ERA (second in the AL), a 0.92 WHIP and 210 strikeouts (third in the AL). Over his previous five starts he was 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA, allowing just 4 runs in 32 innings.

The American League Cy Young Award is his to lose. Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays is the closest challenger in the conversation, but none of Cease’s numbers carry the historical weight Schlittler just added by surpassing Guidry, Ford and Chesbro in a single outing.

All of this from a 25-year-old right-hander taken in the seventh round of the 2022 Draft out of Northeastern University — not exactly a five-star prospect with his name in lights from day one. Back in May, after just nine starts, he was the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1913 to open a season with 50-plus strikeouts, fewer than 10 walks, at most one home run allowed and an ERA under 1.50. The numbers were already signaling that something different was happening.