
It didn’t take long for Cam Schlittler to demonstrate his scintillating stuff.
On the sixth pitch of his MLB career, the flame-throwing Yankees rookie lit up the radar gun with a 99.9-mph fastball.
Ten pitches later, Schlittler hit 100 mph.
And just like that, Schlittler’s MLB debut was off to a scorching start.
The prized prospect lived up to the hype in Wednesday night’s 9-6 win over the Seattle Mariners in the Bronx.
Schlittler limited the Mariners to three runs over 5.1 innings and recorded seven strikeouts, including two against MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh, to earn the win.
The 6-6 right-hander’s first career strikeout came in the first inning against the switch-hitting Raleigh, whom he froze with a 99.6-mph four-seamer. He followed with an inning-ending strikeout of Randy Arozarena, who tipped a 99.7-mph fastball into catcher Austin Wells’ glove.
Schlittler’s fastball averaged 97.9 mph, and he finished six of his strikeouts with the pitch.
He punctuated his outing with his second strikeout of Raleigh, who swung through a 98.1-mph fastball on Schlittler’s 75th and final pitch of the night.
A pair of solo home runs — by J.P. Crawford in the third inning and Jorge Polanco in the fourth — dinged Schlittler, but it was an otherwise excellent debut for the 24-year-old.
A Yankee Stadium crowd of 35,651 showered Schlittler with a loud ovation as he exited the game.
“His fastball really jumped out in the spring. It’s a fastball that really plays,” manager Aaron Boone said before Wednesday’s game.
“He had a strong spring for us. Got some real looks with us, starting some games late in spring, and has picked up off of last year and really had a strong half a season at Double-A and now Triple-A down there, and really earned this opportunity.”
Originally a seventh-round pick out of Northeastern in 2022, Schlittler made significant strides this season. He pitched to a 2.82 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 76.2 innings over 15 minor-league appearances, the final five of which came at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees promoted Schlittler — their No. 10 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline — to fill a rotation spot vacated by Clarke Schmidt, whom Boone said over the weekend likely needs Tommy John surgery.
Schlittler could provide a boost to a starting staff that also lost ace Gerrit Cole to season-ending elbow surgery and that remains without Luis Gil, who on Sunday is set to begin a rehab assignment for a lat strain that cropped up during spring training.
The Yankees’ lineup provided more than enough run support for Schlittler, tagging Mariners starter Logan Evans for six runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings.
Three of those runs came in the first inning, when Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton delivered RBI singles and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added an RBI groundout.
That was the start of a big game for Chisholm, who drilled a 418-foot solo home run in the third inning and a two-run blast in the fifth to cap the scoring against Evans.
Chisholm, who was one of three Yankees selected to the All-Star team, now boasts 17 home runs. It was the second baseman’s second multi-homer game of the season and the seventh of his career.
Aaron Judge added a two-run double in the sixth, giving him 77 RBI to pass Raleigh for the American League lead.
The Mariners arrived in the Bronx having hurled three consecutive shutouts, but the Yankees totaled 19 runs over the first two games of the series.
After a six-game losing streak, the Yankees (51-41) have won three in a row.
They will try to complete a three-game sweep on Thursday night, with Marcus Stroman (1-1, 7.45 ERA) set to start for the Yankees and All-Star right-hander Bryan Woo (8-4, 2.77 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Seattle.
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