Yankees Show Cam Schlittler Videos of Criticism Before Some Starts to Motivate MLB All-Star

New York Yankees ace Cam Schlittler is a leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award this season, and it turns out that he has perhaps had some added motivation along the way.

According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Yankees director of organizational performance Chad Bohling shows Schlittler videos before every start, and while it is not always the case, some of them include criticism of the 25-year-old flamethrower.

One recent example provided by Kirschner saw Bohling show Schlittler a clip of Jared Carrabis from the Baseball Is Dead podcast saying of Schlittler, "The regression is happening before our very eyes," after he struggled in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Bohling showed it to Schlittler before his July 6 road start against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, and Schlittler responded by allowing four hits and one earned run, while striking out eight over eight innings in a 5-1 Yankees win.

Schlittler admitted to Kirschner that the clip fired him up, saying, "It definitely pissed me off. It was pretty easy to go out there and perform just based on the last outing, how we've been playing, and then the cherry on top there."

Last season, Schlittler burst onto the scene as a rookie, pitching to a 2.96 ERA in 14 regular-season starts.

However, his most memorable moment came in the AL Wild Card Round of the playoffs when he allowed five hits and no runs, and struck out 12 over eight innings in New York's elimination win over the rival Boston Red Sox.

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Schlittler grew up in Red Sox territory, but he became the enemy to Red Sox fans and was on the receiving end of a ton of social media vitriol after that game.

Schlittler wasn't shy about clapping back, and although he has tried to rein it in this year, Schlittler suggested to Kirschner that he feels he has earned the right to talk some trash if he wants to, saying, "This year, I feel like I've done a pretty good job of ignoring people online, but I've also been able to back it up, too. If I want to say something, I can, because I've backed it up."

In his first full season as an MLB player, Schlittler has been dominant in 2026, going 9-5 with a 2.05 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 137 strikeouts over 118.2 innings pitched en route to an All-Star selection.

Given that he is first in the AL in pitcher WAR, ERA and WHIP, second in strikeouts and tied for third in wins, a strong argument can be made that Schlittler is the man to beat for the Cy Young.

Whether outside criticism has fueled Schlittler to reach this point is up for debate, but his performance has been undeniable.