Yankees' Cam Schlittler has strong bid for Cy Young with shaky top competition

The New York Yankees have been one of the best teams in Major League Baseball in 2026, and while the offense and the bullpen might not be at their best right now, the starting rotation is absolutely elite.

Leading the charge in this rotation is second-year starter Cam Schlittler. He's putting together a monster 2026 season, and one that has a strong case for the AL Cy Young award.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle named Schlittler as the favorite for the AL Cy Young award in 2026, but most notably, is that his top competition is made up of some shaky candidates.

Cam Schlittler's top AL Cy Young competition is shaky

Doolittle notes that Schlittler is in first place with a 145.8 AXE (which is a statistic combining multiple metrics to determine how impactful a player is).

Among the other American League Cy Young candidates, Davis Martin is second, Parker Messick third, Jose Soriano fourth, and Nick Martinez fifth.

This combination of starters with Schlittler is interesting. Doolittle writes, "The AL Cy Young leaderboard is pretty wild looking, but Schlittler is legit."

Schlittler has an MLB-best 1.50 ERA this season across his 11 starts. He also has 3.1 bWAR, a 6-2 record, 75 strikeouts, and a 0.864 WHIP and 274 ERA+.

MORE: Yankees’ Aaron Judge on track to become first player in MLB history with five 50+ homer seasons

His top competition has all been good pitchers this season, but none should be of significant concern for Schlittler in his bid for the Cy Young award.

Martin for the Chicago White Sox has been a fun surprise, but there are real questions if he can sustain this dominance. Soriano started off the year hot, but has regressed a bit lately.

Messick and Martinez have been good starters, but neither can compare to what Schlittler is doing so far this season. They're on track to receive Cy Young votes, but neither is pitching better than Schlittler right now.

With such incredible numbers and a shaky field behind him that doesn't include Tarik Skubal due to injury, the Yankees' 25-year-old ace has a clear shot at the award in 2026.

More MLB news:

• 5 reasons to believe in Jordan Walker's breakout for Cardinals
• Roman Anthony might’ve been overhyped for Red Sox
• Dodgers still have a Roki Sasaki problem
• Chase Burns becomes first Reds pitcher with elite stat line since 1922
• Phillies’ Aidan Miller finally beginning baseball activities amid back injury