Cam Schlittler has emerged as the top pitching prospect in the New York Yankees organization. His ability to overpower hitters is a big reason why. In four starts since being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 3, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound right-hander has logged a 1.69 ERA and a 40.2% strikeout rate over 21-and-a-third innings. Counting his 53 frames at Double-A Somerset, Schlittler has a 2.18 ERA and a 33.0% strikeout rate on the season.
The 2022 seventh-rounder out of Northeastern University is averaging 96.5 mph with his heater, but more than velocity plays into the offering’s effectiveness. As Eric Longenhagen wrote back in January, Schlittler’s “size and arm angle create downhill plane on his mid-90s fastball akin to a runaway truck ramp, while the backspinning nature of the pitch also creates riding life.”
I asked the 24-year-old Walpole, Massachusetts native about the characteristics our lead prospect analyst described in his report.
“Arm slot-wise it’s nothing crazy,” Schlittler said in our spring training conversation. “I’m more of a high-three-quarters kind of guy, but what I didn’t realize until looking at video a couple months ago is that I have really quick arm speed. My mechanics are kind of slow, and then my arm path is really fast, so the ball kind of shoots out a little bit. With my height, release point— I get good extension — and how fast my arm is moving, the ball gets on guys quicker than they might expect.”
Schlittler feels that mechanical changes he began making in 2023, and continued into last season, not only allow him to get down the mound better, but also give his fastball more explosiveness. Calling the movement profile “ride-cut” — cut-ride is the more commonly-used term — he said that his high-octane heater “can kind of stay up, and kind of keep going up.”
The horizontal is to his liking.
“Ride is great — definitely with my slot — but I think a lot of people undervalue ride-cut,” the towering righty told me. “Some people see cut and want to get rid of it, whereas I think the combination of the two is part of why my fastball is so effective. And I’ve been able to add some vert, too. I adjusted my grip slightly — I moved it over slightly to the right, just a slight offset with the seam-orientation — and that added a little vert. But I love the cut-ride. They love the cut-ride. That’s all that really matters.”
Schlittler threw six shutout innings against the Worcester Red Sox in his last start, allowing just two hits and one walk, with nine strikeouts. The Baseball America Top 100 prospect K’d Kristian Campbell three times.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Bobby Higginson went 10 for 22 against Chris Carpenter.
Andy Dirks went 10 for 24 against Jeremy Guthrie.
Don Kelly went 11 for 24 against Justin Masterson.
Brandon Inge went 11 for 25 against Darrell May.
Damion Easley went 11 for 21 against Scott Karl.
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Travis d’Arnaud has caught a lot of pitchers. Now with the Los Angeles Angels, the 36-year-old backstop has behind the dish for five teams over 13 big-league seasons. Which among the hurlers most stand out for the quality of an individual offering?
“I’ve been lucky enough to catch a handful of studs,” d’Arnaud said to that question. “Matt Harvey had that explosive heater, as well as a devastating curveball that, when I first came up, I haven’t seen before. Noah Syndergaard had a backdoor two-seamer at 102 [mph] that I’ve never seen before. Bartolo Colon threw 90 percent heaters and was still successful. I’d never seen that before, either. And then there was Jacob deGrom, who commanded everything like he was playing a video game.”
Asked to elaborate on Colon, d’Araud pointed to “Big Sexy’s” ability to consistently spot up both his four- and two-seam fastballs to all quadrants of the zone, As he put it, “It was just heater, heater, heater; down, up, in, out. He was able to go through lineups with mostly just fastballs.”
Colon and d’Arnaud were together with the New York Mets — ditto deGrom and Harvey — and something the veteran catcher said about the NL East club’s home venue raised my eyebrows.
“The wind swirls at Citi Field, and when it was blowing back in Bartolo’s face, he was able to recognize that and know how to make his ball move more,” d’Arnaud told me. “He knew exactly where to start a pitch to take advantage of [the wind]. He’s the only guy I’ve ever seen able to do that. It blew my mind.”
Did d’Arnaud ever ask Colon how he was able use the wind to his advantage in that manner?
“No,” he admitted. “I should have.”
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Last Sunday’s column included brief excerpts from Scott Miller’s Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter (and Always Will), the subject at hand being Minnesota’s Tom Kelly’s decision to allow Jack Morris to throw a 10-inning complete game in 1991, and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash’s to pull Blake Snell during the sixth inning in 2020.
The same chapter includes the following, which touches on the final game of the 2015 World Series:
Matt Harvey, working on a 2-0 shutout in Game 5 in Queens, talked manager Terry Collins into allowing him to start the top of the ninth inning against Kansas City… Harvey was at 101 pitches; Collins relented, and it backfired spectacularly.
“Sometime you let your heart dictate your mind,” Collins said afterward. It burned him. Meanwhile, Cash was determined that his mind was going to overrule his heart, and that burned him.
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A quiz:
Which pitcher holds the Cincinnati Reds franchise record for most strikeouts in a single season? (A hint: He finished second to Steve Carlton for most strikeouts in the National League that year.)
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NEWS NOTES
Dylan Rock tied (but ultimately failed to break) the known-professional record by homering in eight consecutive games for the independent Atlantic League’s Lexington Legends this past week. The 26-year-old outfielder logged an 81 wRC+ while playing in the Toronto Blue Jays system from 2022-2024. He has 13 home runs and a .917 OPS on the season.
Diego Segui, a Cuban-born right-hander who pitched for six teams across the 1962-1977 seasons, died earlier this week at age 87. Known for his forkball, Segui had 12 wins and 12 saves for the Seattle Pilots in 1969 — he later pitched for the Seattle Mariners — and in 1970 he posted an AL-best 2.56 ERA with the Oakland Athletics. His son, David Segui, played in the majors from 1990-2004.
Matt Murray, who appeared in six games while pitching for both the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox in 1995, died recently at age 54. The right-hander logged 14 innings and lost all three of his decisions.
Dave Parker died yesterday at age 74 following a battle with Parkinson’s disease. “The Cobra” was a guest on FanGraphs Audio back in September 2021. More recently, Jay Jaffe wrote about Parker and Dick Allen being voted into the HoF this past December.
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The answer to the quiz is Mario Soto, who had 274 strikeouts pitching for the Reds in 1982. If you guessed Tom Seaver, the most strikeouts The Hall of Famer logged in a Cincinnati uniform was 226, in 1978.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
The first of Shannon Penn’s two cups of coffee began with a bang. Debuting with the Detroit Tigers on April 28, 1995, the switch-hitting second baseman swatted three singles in four trips to the plate. The rest of his career was both brief and nothing to write home about. The Cincinnati native went hitless in his next five at-bats, then got demoted to Triple-A. Returning to the big-leagues in September 1996, he then went 1-for-14, never to return to MLB. Moreover, he didn’t even return to the minors. Only 27 years old when he called it a career, Penn logged a .270 batting average and 199 stolen bases as a farmhand, but just the four hits in 23 at-bats as a Tiger.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Lewin Díaz has a KBO-best 27 home runs to go with a .292/.346/.603 slash line and a 150 wRC+ over 335 plate appearances with the Samsung Lions. The 28-year-old first baseman had 13 home runs and a 51 wRC+ over 343 plate appearances with the Miami Marlins from 2020-2022.
Ro Un Lee has a 1.35 ERA over 41 appearances comprising 40 innings for SSG Landers. The 20-year-old right-hander was the fifth-overall pick in the 2023 KBO draft.
Trevor Bauer is 4-7 with a 4.13 ERA over 100-and-a-third innings for NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The 34-year-old right-hander last pitched stateside with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021.
Foster Griffin is 5-0 with a 0.92 ERA over 59 innings for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The 29-year-old left-hander is in his third NPB season after pitching for the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays from 2020-2022.
Teruaki Sato has an NPB-best 19 home runs to go with a .279/.343/.576 slash line and a 199 wRC+ over 303 plate appearances for the Hanshin Tigers. The 26-year-old third baseman/outfielder is the circuit’s co-leader in RBIs with 49.
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Two Sundays ago, this column led with Jake Mangum, whose father and uncle played in the NFL, while his grandfather played in the old AFL. The Tampa Bay Rays outfielder isn’t the only baseballer with impressive gridiron lineage. Jake Miller, a 24-year-old pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians system, also has that distinction. As the right-hander told me prior to a recent game, his father, Mike, played in the NFL, as did his paternal grandfather, Ed.
There is more baseball in that family, as well. Miller’s uncle Scott played in the Chicago Cubs system, while his younger brother, 20-year-old righty Cole Miller, is currently No. 18 on our Athletics Top Prospects list. (Thanks to Akron RubberDucks broadcaster Marco LeNave for verifying the first names of Miller’s grandfather and uncle).
Jake has his sights set on Cleveland, and based on how he’s throwing at Double-A Akron, he stands a good chance of getting there. Over 25 appearances comprising 37 innings, the 2021 draft pick out of the University of San Diego boasts a 1.46 ERA, a 2.04 FIP, and a 28.5% strikeout rate. Moreover, his 3.6% walk rate is second-lowest in the Eastern League among hurlers with at least 35 innings.
Miller features a four-seam fastball, a slider/cutter, a sweeper, and a splitter that he considers his best pitch. The middle two of those offerings are new to this year, while the last is a pitch he’s had since high school. As for the heater, velocity-wise it is “close” to where it was prior to his having Tommy John surgery in 2022. Whereas it was “93-96, maybe 97 [mph]” before going under the knife, it is currently 93-95. And while that doesn’t qualify as high-octane in today’s game, the movement profile is impressive.
“I run-ride on it,” Miller told me. “Some of my fastballs are 14 horizontal and 17 vert, but the good ones are 18 to 21 vert, with 14-15 horizontal. I think my other pitches help my fastball play better, too. Hitters have to respect all three.”
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FARM NOTES
Harry Ford is slashing .311/.426/.469 with eight home runs and a 135 wRC+ over 277 plate appearances for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. Drafted 12th-overall in 2021 out of Kennesaw, Georgia’s North Cobb High School, the 22-year-old catcher is No. 3 on our Seattle Mariners Top Prospects list.
D’Angelo Ortiz is slashing .296/.394/.333 with a 105 wRC+ over 127 plate appearances in the Florida Complex League. Drafted in the 19th round last year out of Miami Dade Community College by the Boston Red Sox, the 20-year-old corner infielder is the son of Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz.
Juneiker Caceres is slashing .333/.452/.525 with a 158 wRC+ over 124 plate appearances in the Arizona Complex League. No. 43 on our Cleveland Guardians Top Prospects list, the 17-year-old Venezuelan-born outfielder batted .340 with a 144 wRC+ last year in the Dominican Summer League.
JD Dix is slashing .342/.421/.493 with a 140 wRC+ over 178 plate appearances in the Arizona Complex League. Drafted 35th overall last year out of Whitefish Bay (WI) High School, the 19-year-old second baseman is No. 13 on our Arizona Diamondbacks Top Prospects list.
Inmer Lobo has a 1.56 ERA and a 27.0% strikeout rate over 34-and-two-thirds innings between Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro. The 21-year-old Venezuelan-born southpaw in the Pittsburgh Pirates system was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Hoy Park in November 2022.
The Texas League’s Arkansas Travelers (Mariners) and Amarillo Sod Poodles (Diamondbacks) played one of the craziest games of the minor league season on Friday. Amarillo led 10-1 after four innings, Arkansas scored 11 times in the seventh to go up 15-12, then Amarillo tallied three in the eighth and two in the ninth to win 17-15. The game ended on a walk-off home run by 22-year-old D-Backs catching prospect Christian Cerda. Arkansas’s Lazaro Montes — No. 7 on our Mariners list — went deep earlier in the game. The 20-year-old outfielder’s 21 home runs are the most in the minors this season.
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How are my preseason predictions looking with the season right around the halfway mark? Much as one might expect — Nostradamus I’m not — they are a mixed bag at best. Here are my division winners and where the teams rank in the standings: Philadelphia (first), Cincinnati (fourth), Los Angeles (first), Baltimore (last), Detroit (first), Houston (first).
My MVP picks were Riley Greene (18 home runs, 147 wRC+, 2.8 WAR) and Jackson Chourio (13 home runs, 100 wRC+, 1.5 WAR), while my Cy Young selections were Logan Webb (2.52 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 3.4 WAR), and Logan Gilbert (3.55 ERA, 3.09 FIP, 1.0 WAR). Gilbert was on the IL from April 26 to June 16 and has mad just nine starts.
My bold prediction was that Ceddanne Rafaela would win a Gold Glove, have a wRC+ of 110 or better, and be worth at least 4.0 WAR. The Red Sox centerfielder currently has an AL-best 12 OAA, a 94 wRC+ (149 over the past month), and 2.2 WAR.
Again, a mixed bag at best.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Oneil Cruz was taken out of a game by Don Kelly earlier this week due to a lack of effort — not the first time the Pirates outfielder has been guilty of not hustling — and the manager’s action was overdue. John Perrotto expressed that sentiment at Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
Which team positions its outfielders best? Mark Simon addressed that question at Baseball Info Solutions.
A Wausau, Wisconsin native named Rudy Bell played in 17 games for the American League’s New York York Highlanders in 1907. His birth name was Rudolph Frederick Baerwald, and Jim Force wrote about him for The Wausau Pilot & Review.
The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner penned a tribute to author/sportswriter Scott Miller, who recently lost his life to cancer at age 62.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Four NL West teams have a positive run differential. The fifth-place Colorado Rockies have a minus-222 run differential.
The Cleveland Guardians are in second place in the AL Central with a minus-40 run differential. The Cincinnati Reds are in fourth place in the NL Central with a plus-39 run differential.
Right-handed batters are 23-for-111 (.207) against Detroit’s Brenan Hanifee. Left-handed batters are 23-for-51 (.451).
Opposing batters are 14-for-107 (.131) versus Seattle’s Logan Gilbert at T-Mobile Park. They are 20-for-64 (.313) against him in Mariners road games.
Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller is 2-10 with a 3.90 ERA and a 3.33 FIP.
Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt is 8-5 with a 5.38 ERA and a 4.90 FIP.
On today’s date in 2010, Denard Span went 4-for-4 with a walk and three triples as the Minnesota Twins trounced the Detroit Tigers 11-4. Now a TV analyst with the Twins, Span legged out two of his three-baggers against lefty reliever Fu-Te Ni.
On today’s date in 1960, Jim Coates tossed a three-hitter to run his record to 9-0 as the New York Yankees blanked the Kansas City Athletics 10-0. A colorful character known as “The Mummy,” Coates finished the season with a 13-3 record despite a sub-par 84 ERA+. He went 27-7 at Yankee Stadium over the course of his career.
The Chicago Cubs scored seven times in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-8 on today’s date in 1952,. The rally, which began after the first two batters were retired, was capped by a two-run, pinch-hit single by Johnny Pramesa.
Players born on today’s date include Bruce Kimm, whose relatively modest career included his being Mark Fidrych’s personal catcher during The Bird’s scintillating 1976 rookie season. Kimm hit his lone big-league home run in August of that year, taking California’s Frank Tanana deep in the eighth inning to give Detroit a 3-2 win over the Angels in front of 51,822 fans at Tiger Stadium. Kimm went on to manage the Chicago Cubs in the second half of the 2002 campaign.
Also born on today’s date was Farmer Steelman, a catcher/outfielder who played for three major league teams, primarily the Philadelphia Athletics, across parts of the 1899-1902 seasons. Steelman’s time in the minors included stints with the York White Roses, Charleston Seagulls, Hartford Wooden Nutmegs, and Utica Pent-Ups.
