You want to be cautious because Major League Baseball is incredibly difficult, and in many ways, Cam Schlittler\u2019s arc does not make sense. As a seventh-round draft pick who appeared on zero top prospect lists, he is now quickly imitating prime Gerrit Cole.<\/p>\n
You want to slow down heady comparisons because 16 regular-season starts into their careers, you will find even better ERAs than Schlittler\u2019s 2.55 over the last three decades belonging to forgettables such as Dereck Rodr\u00edguez and Taylor Jungmann.<\/p>\n
But it is difficult to watch Schlittler and not envision what could be \u2014 for him and the Yankees. A year ago at this time, Schlittler did not really have a cutter. Now he is throwing something that looks like vintage Mariano Rivera, vicious and hard to square at 94 mph to go along with among the majors\u2019 best four-seam fastballs and sinkers \u2014 not to mention an improving slider and curve.<\/p>\n