Yankees Notes and Opinions for 12/5

1. Cam Schlittler is working on an off-speed pitch

Pitchers always need to evolve. 82.7% of Schlittler’s 2025 pitches were a type of fastball (4-seamer, cutter, sinker), and the Pitch Value metric on Fangraphs graded his slider and curve as negative pitches.

Can you get away with a fastball-heavy arsenal? Certainly. Bryan Woo, for example, used his 4-seam/sinker combination 72.8% of the time in 2025, the highest number amongst qualifiers. That’s still 9.9% less than Schlittler did.

Beyond that, if Schlittler isn’t comfortable with a new pitch, it will be scrapped, or at least put on the back burner.  This is what the winter and spring training are for.  While Schlittler relies heavily on hard stuff, he has three varieties of fastballs. It isn’t like he is pumping 4-seamers all game.

Bottom Line:

By showing different looks to left-handed batters, Schlittler sets himself up for long-term success. However, it wasn’t a major problem in 2025, when left-handed hitters hit .222/.313/.310 against him over 179 plate appearances.

2. Sonny Gray hates the Yankees now

What is with meh players talking crap about the Yankees the last few years? Remember when A.J. Minter weirdly brought up the Yankees during his Mets press conference last year?

Frankly, I am not sure why I should care about what Gray, Connor Wong (-0.6 bWAR in 2025), or Payton Tolle have to say. Those guys aren’t exactly Luis Tiant, Carlton Fisk, and Dennis Eckersley. I am not getting Pedro Martinez vs. Jorge Posada vibes.

(I was hoping Aaron Judge would put out a statement about how much of a grind it was playing right field while Gray kept nibbling at the strike zone, and how Gray gave him whiplash two or three times a game.)

It’s time for Gray, Aroldis Chapman, and anyone else to stop blaming the Yankees for their own failures—whether as players or, in Chapman’s case, as teammates.

3. First Hot Stove Episode

The interview with Schlittler was fun. He is a well-spoken young man, and I appreciate how he explained how he was tipping pitches last season.

The discussions about the 2026 Yankees were a little frustrating, but I had to remind myself that it’s early and not even Jack Curry knows everything that is going on.

I take exception to the Michael Kay narrative that the Yankees are masters of the bullpen. Historically, that is true. In 2025, the bullpen had several leaks that they tried to plug at the deadline. David Bednar was a slam dunk. Camilo Doval has electric stuff, and he delivered in the postseason. They will be hoping for a Jake Bird bounce-back.

However, this bullpen can use another reliable option.

I am not a fan of paying big for bullpens, especially if you are on a budget. You need to be creative somewhere. Kay may have brushed off the need too quickly, but I get the point: dropping $20 million on someone like Edwin Díaz only makes sense if you expand the budget. The Yankees don’t appear to be doing that.

The outfield discussion? They were talking reasonably about it. You can call it “boring” if they roll out the same outfield, but Cody Bellinger isn’t exactly a bad option—just a risky one, given some of his metrics.

Trent Grisham accepting that qualifying offer tempered what could have been a fun discussion over two outfield slots.

For as long as Anthony Volpe is a Yankee, we are going to hear the fluff. I don’t see anything for him to tap into, but being wrong is a feature, not a bug. We have no choice but to accept that he will be given a long leash in 2026. Sink or swim. I hope he swims.

Bottom Line:

Looking at the Yankees roster, there isn’t much room to maneuver unless the Yankees decide to shuffle the deck.  They are locked in behind the plate and in the infield. We will hear about Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, and Will Warren as six rotation options, with Clarke Schmidt scheduled to return in the second half. Kay already mentioned that Ryan Yarbrough can fill in some innings while Cole and Rodon finish up their rehab stints. Elmer Rodriguez, Carlos Lagrange, Ben Hess, and potentially Chase Hampton can be knocking on the door during the season. I listed 12 pitchers in this paragraph. While it would be stupid to assume that all of them will stay healthy and/or be MLB options this season, the fact remains that their depth is a solid blend of veterans and youth.

The Yankees are linked to some pitchers on the trade market and Tatsuya Imai on the free agent market. Adding pitching talent is never discouraged. However, the Yankees have some leverage here. There isn’t an urgent need for them in the rotation.

For what it is worth, the Twins announced today that they intend to keep Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez.

4. AL East Moves

The Yankees are the only AL East squad that has yet to make a move.

First, OF Cedric Mullins signed a contract with the Rays. A solid contributor for the Orioles from 2021 to the 2025 trade deadline, Mullins was a disaster after being acquired by the Mets. He hit .182/.284/.281 in 143 plate appearances with a pair of home runs and eight stolen bases. That said, he was still OK for Baltimore before the deal (.229/.305/.433; 106 OPS+), and he hasn’t lost his ability to steal bases. He is probably worth the $7 million risk.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox made a weird trade with the Pirates.  They acquired depth starter Johan Oviedo, left-handed reliever Tyler Samaniego, and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman for outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia (also known as “The Password”) and minor-league right-hander Jesus Travieso. 

Oviedo pitched decently in nine starts for the Pirates, compiling a 3.57 ERA (4.92 FIP) over 40.1 innings with a 42/23 K/BB. In his last full MLB season (2023), the 27-year-old pitched to a 4.31 ERA in 177.2 innings with a 20.2% K and 10.6% BB. Samaniego is a 26-year-old who appeared in two games during his 2025 MLB debut season.

Garcia (ranked the 85th prospect in baseball by Pipeline) is the big fish going back to the Pirates. As a 22-year-old in Double-A and Triple-A in 2025, he hit .267/.340/.470 with 21 home runs over 489 plate appearances.  Garcia mostly played center field in the minors and can probably handle it to an extent in MLB. If not, he can easily move to a corner. Travieso wasn’t ranked in the Pirates’ Top 30 after the trade.

Bottom Line:

Honestly, neither move makes much of a difference to me. Adding starting pitching depth is never a bad idea, but I don’t understand why the cost was a Top 100 prospect.  Would Yankees fans be happy if Oviedo and Samaniego were the return for Spencer Jones?  My guess is no.

If Mullins can return to what he was in Baltimore, he should provide the Rays with league-average offense. He feels like a Rays player, doesn’t he?

5. Minor league moves

Nothing much is happening on this front.

The San Diego Padres signed long-time Yankees’ farmhand Sean Boyle to a minor league deal. Boyle was with the Yankees from 2018 through 2025, compiling a 3.83 ERA over 486 innings. The Padres should be a good landing spot for Boyle, as their pitching staff may have openings for him to compete for.

The Rule 5 draft is on Wednesday.