The New York Yankees lead the AL East, but their roster is far from perfect. Their infield, especially with Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s injury, lacks depth. Most alarmingly, though, their starting rotation is a bit of a mess. That fact should get Brian Cashman and Co. to consider promoting a prospect not many expected to pitch in the majors this season, Cam Schlitter.
On one hand, New York's 4.07 rotation ERA isn't horrible, especially with both Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil not having thrown a single pitch yet. On the other hand, though, their rotation ERA is only 17th in the majors despite Max Fried posting a 1.01 ERA through seven starts, and Carlos Rodon pitching as well as he has in pinstripes. That shows how bad the rest of the rotation is.
The starters behind Fried and Rodon, mainly Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco, have left a lot to be desired. That's where a guy like Schlitter can come in and help.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Yankees should consider promoting Cam Schlitter to give rotation much-needed boost
Schlitter, the team's No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has pitched extremely well for Double-A Somerset this season. He has a 2.33 ERA in five appearances (four starts) and 27 innings of work, racking up 29 strikeouts compared to six walks while surrendering just one home run.
I get the concerns that would come with promoting Schlitter. He has made just nine starts at the Double-A level over the course of his minor league career and has made one start at Triple-A. In an ideal situation, the Yankees would not even consider seeing him in pinstripes until he gets a lot more experience in the upper minors. Unfortunately, the Yankees don't have much of a luxury to wait right now.
The Yankees hoped that Will Warren's spring training emergence was a sign of what was to come, but he has completed five innings in only three of his seven starts, and the only two times he's attempted to start the sixth inning, he has been unable to record an out. Carrasco has been even worse than Warren, and has an ERA just a shade under 6.00. Both Warren and Carrasco have been unable to provide length and have been mostly ineffective when they've been in games.
Schlitter might struggle, but how much longer can they go on without making a change? If he does struggle, he can't possibly be any worse than what they've gotten at the back end of the rotation. If he doesn't, well, the Yankees might have themselves a starting pitcher they can trust for years.
At this point, it can't hurt to see what Schlitter has. Hopefully, Cashman comes to that realization sooner rather than later.