The New York Yankees have seen Cam Schlittler turn into a superstar this season, and he is currently the American League Cy Young Award favorite.
Schlittler has the best ERA in all of baseball, leads the American League in bWAR, and has eclipsed 200 strikeouts. The Cy Young Award is almost a lock for him, but recently his manager noted that he should also be considered for MVP.
The last pitcher to win MVP was Clayton Kershaw in 2014. Schlittler's numbers are pretty close to Kershaw's from that season, and Cody Bellinger, who played with Kershaw, thinks it would be cool for Schlittler to also win MVP.
"That was a pretty outstanding year for Kersh, and Schlitt’s been doing such an amazing job," Bellinger said, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "That’d be very exciting.”
While Bellinger and Aaron Boone are enthusiastic about the prospect of Schlittler winning MVP, three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge had a different take.
"He’s definitely pitching like an MVP, but they’ve got a Cy Young Award for a reason – best pitcher in the game,” Judge said. “So he’s got my vote, definitely, for the Cy Young.”
Judge did not say he does not think Schlittler should win the MVP, but he did not quite back his campaign. Judge may know that voters are less likely to give the award to a pitcher, so he is simply saying that Schlittler will end up earning recognition for being the best pitcher in the league regardless of the MVP voters.
It is odd for Judge to point out that Schlittler has his vote for the Cy Young, but not say he does for the MVP. Schlittler himself is not focused on award discourse. He is focused on what's ahead for the Yankees.
"I don’t know anything about that,” Schlittler said of the MVP talk. “It’s a great compliment.”