Por Renan Filho · 2026-09-24The last time a starting pitcher won the American League Most Valuable Player award, Justin Verlander was dominating for the Houston Astros in 2011. Fourteen seasons later, Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler has a legitimate case to break that drought — and he might just do it.
Through September 24, 2026, Schlittler leads the majors in wins (22), ERA (1.87), strikeouts (271) and WAR among pitchers (8.4). According to FanGraphs, his WAR ranks second overall in the AL, trailing only Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson by 0.1. But Schlittler’s value to a 104-win Yankees team goes beyond counting stats: he has held opponents to a .190 batting average and a 0.88 WHIP, both best in baseball. His ability to consistently pitch deep into games — 215 innings so far — has saved a bullpen that lost two key arms early in the season.
Schlittler’s ascent has been steady. Drafted in the third round out of Northeastern University in 2022, he was not a top-100 prospect entering 2025. A breakout spring training, followed by an elite sweeper and a four-seamer that averages 97.3 mph, turned him into a frontline ace. In his second full MLB season, he has produced a Cy Young–caliber campaign that has analysts debating whether a pitcher can — or should — be MVP again.
The historical precedent is thin. Since 1960, only six starting pitchers have won AL MVP: Denny McLain (1968), Vida Blue (1971), Jim Palmer (1973), Roger Clemens (1986, 1991), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Justin Verlander (2011). Most came in eras when wins and ERA dominated the narrative. With modern analytics devaluing pitcher wins and elevating position-player WAR, Schlittler faces a tough electorate. Yet his candidacy has been bolstered by his dominance in high-leverage situations: in games against division rivals Boston and Toronto, he is 8-1 with a 1.12 ERA.
Why this matters beyond the box score. Schlittler’s MVP case underscores a larger shift in how baseball — and the free market that sustains it — values scarcity. Aces who can carry a team through 200-plus innings are increasingly rare. The Yankees signed Schlittler to a six-year, $27 million extension before the 2025 season, a bargain that now looks like one of the best investments in recent memory. In a league where teams routinely spend $30 million per win on free agents, Schlittler is delivering $80+ million in value this year alone. That is exactly the kind of efficiency and merit-based reward that free-market advocates admire: systemic underrating of starting pitchers created a market inefficiency, and the Yankees exploited it.
FORTIS Analysis: The liberal-conservative lens here is straightforward. The MVP vote is a marketplace of ideas, and voters should reward the player who most directly contributes to winning — not a predefined narrative. For decades, voters have been reluctant to award pitchers because they appear only every fifth day. This is a category error. A starter who throws 215 innings at a sub-2.00 ERA prevents runs in roughly 25% of a team’s defensive innings. That is a larger share than any single position player’s offensive contribution when adjusted for leverage. Schlittler’s win probability added (6.3, per Baseball Reference) tops every AL hitter. The market speaks: when he is on the mound, the Yankees win at a .794 clip. That is MVP-caliber impact, period.
Counterpoint: Not everyone is convinced. Critics point out that modern pitchers rarely pitch complete games, and Schlittler has only four this season. They argue that the MVP should go to an everyday player who impacts all facets: hitting, baserunning, defense. Gunnar Henderson, for example, has 38 home runs, 109 RBIs, and plays elite shortstop. WAR may be close, but the positional scarcity argument favors Henderson. Moreover, Schlittler’s 271 strikeouts, while impressive, come in a strikeout-heavy era — five other pitchers have fanned at least 250. The case against is credible, but it relies on a rigid interpretation of “most valuable” that ignores the leverage of the innings Schlittler dominates.
What the data shows: In the 98 games Schlittler has started since 2025, the Yankees are 72-26. In games he does not start, they are 126-94. That 55-point win percentage swing is the largest of any pitcher in baseball. It is also larger than the on-off swing for Henderson or any other position player on contending teams. Numbers don’t lie.