Former Silver Knight Schlittler Becomes 27th Futures Leaguer in MLB

ROCKLAND, Mass. 一 Former Nashua Silver Knights and Northeastern University pitcher Cam Schlittler became the 27th Futures League alumni to play in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game when he got the starting nod for the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.

Schlittler earned the win in an impressive MLB debut, striking out seven while allowing just four hits and three runs (including two solo home runs) in 5.1 innings against the Seattle Mariners. He became just the sixth Yankees pitcher in the past 14 years to win and the 10th-ever to record seven or more strikeouts in his MLB debut. 

The Yankees' seventh-round draft pick in 2022 and their current No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Schlittler is coming off a South Atlantic League All-Star honor and winning the Kevin Lawn Award as New York's organizational Pitcher of the Year in 2024. In just his second full professional season, his 154 strikeouts in 120.2 innings were the most among Yankee farmhands.

After spending the majority of his breakout 2024 season with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, Schlittler was the Double-A Somerset Patriots' Opening Day starter this season and posted a 2.38 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 53 innings before reaching Triple-A.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander was 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in five Triple-A starts for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders before getting the call to the Bronx over this past weekend. He struck out 35 against just nine walks in 23.2 innings. Combining his work at both minor league levels this season, Schlittler has a 2.82 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 76.2 innings.

Schlittler was a two-time Boston Globe All-Scholastic at Walpole High School before embarking on his stint in the Futures League and his college career at Northeastern in 2019. Making three appearances with the Silver Knights in 2019, he recorded four strikeouts across 2.1 innings.

At Northeastern, Schlittler had a 14-9 career record with a 2.67 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 182 innings. He went 8-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 13 starts en route to earning All-CAA First Team, CAA Co-Rookie of the Year and multiple Freshman All-America honors.

Schlittler joins former Dartmouth College star Ben Rice (Worcester '19-'20) as a second Futures League alum on the Yankees' active roster. The 2020 Futures League Most Valuable Player has seen 30 of his 59 hits go for extra bases during his second major league season with New York, including doubling his 2024 home run total with 14. Jayvien Sandridge, who was rostered by the Norwich Sea Unicorns before signing an undrafted free agent contract in 2021, also made his MLB debut with the Yankees earlier this month.

Schlittler is the third Futures League alum to make his MLB debut this season after six did so for the third consecutive season in 2024. He joins the Chicago Cubs infielder Matt Shaw (Worcester '20-'21) and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Matt Svanson (Brockton '19) among those to officially complete the climb to the top of the baseball ladder in 2025, while pitcher Brian Van Belle (North Shore '17) was recalled to the Boston Red Sox last month but did not make his MLB debut.

Among the Futures League's MLB alumni, Schlittler is the third-ever Northeastern alum on the list. He is also the first debutant from a 2022 draft class which was led by former Westfield Starfires and University of Connecticut flamethrower Reggie Crawford.

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