Why Yankees' first-half team MVP per ESPN is Cam Schlittler, not Ben Rice

The New York Yankees have been struggling a little bit lately, but they're still within contention for the AL East title and should be making the postseason this year.

A lot of players have helped the Yankees get to this point, but if there were one team MVP, who would it be? ESPN's Bradford Doolittle called Cam Schlittler the Yankees' first-half MVP, and not slugger Ben Rice.

While there might be plenty of buzz about Rice as a power-hitter having a breakout season who could be in MVP talks, who's also participating in the Home Run Derby, Schlittler's 2026 season is a lot more impactful for the Yankees than Rice's 2026.

Why Cam Schlittler is Yankees' first-half MVP, not Ben Rice

"After getting hammered on the last day of June in Detroit, Schlittler's gem Monday in a key series opener at Tampa Bay (eight innings, one run) showed he remains on a Cy Young trajectory," Doolittle writes. "The Yankees have needed every inning of it."

Schlittler is the Yankees' team MVP through the first half, according to Doolittle, and it's thanks in part to his Cy Young contention this season.

Across 19 starts, Schlittler has a 2.01 ERA with 3.9 bWAR, a 9-5 record, 131 strikeouts, and a 209 ERA+ in 112 innings of work.

Rice, by comparison, has posted 2.3 bWAR this season with his 26 home runs and .273 batting average, .941 OPS, and 159 OPS+.

For as good as Rice has been, and with how much fun he is to watch this year for the Yankees, Schlittler is their most valuable player by a wide margin.

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Cody Bellinger has 3.5 bWAR on the year, but his .762 OPS and 113 OPS+ are a lot worse than Rice's offensive figures this season.

What makes Schlittler the team's MVP this year is that Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Gerrit Cole have all missed a lot of time this season. None of these starters has more than 10 starts in 2026.

The Yankees being able to send Schlittler out there every few days to get a start, shut down an opposing team, and give the Yankees' offense, without Aaron Judge and the shaky bullpen, a chance to win is so huge for this team.

If Judge were still healthy and playing as well as he was before his injury, this would be a much more interesting question. But, as it stands now, Schlittler is clearly the Yankees' team MVP, just as Doolittle noted for ESPN.

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