The right-hander isn’t satisfied. After showcasing triple-digit heat and emerging as a second-half force in the Bronx, Schlittler is working to add a sixth pitch to his repertoire this winter — either a changeup or a splitter, as he said during an appearance Wednesday on the YES Network.
“I’m probably more leaning toward a changeup, which might be easier for me,” Schlittler said on Yankees Hot Stove. “I think that’s an important pitch to include, just because I didn’t have that option down to lefties, or even to righties as well.”
Schlittler, 24, went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 regular-season starts during his rookie campaign, striking out 84 batters against 31 walks in 73 innings while permitting 58 hits.
He primarily leaned on his fastball (54.7%), rounding out his arsenal with a cutter (20.8%), a curveball (14.9%), a sinker (7.2%) and a sweeper (2.4%).
Schlitter said he resumed throwing about three weeks ago, “trying to be very calm with it, but trying to mess with the grips a little bit.”
He plans to increase his workload in a few weeks at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Fla., where “we’ll start to really work on it a little bit more and put a lot of focus onto it going into Spring Training.”
The Yanks expect to lean heavily on Schlittler in the season’s first months, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt all set to begin on the injured list as they recover from their respective surgical procedures.
At present, Schlitter would join Max Fried, Luis Gil and Will Warren in the season-opening rotation, with Ryan Yarbrough also in consideration.
Yet even as he looks to expand his toolkit, don’t expect Schlittler to stop throwing heat. He averaged 98 mph with his fastball this past season, the highest among qualified Yankees.
“Obviously, I throw hard and have a good fastball,” Schlittler said. “[I have] good three variations of fastballs, where that’s still my strength. I just think there will be certain situations where a changeup, splitter, whatever it is — it’s going to help me neutralize some counts when I get deep into it.”
Schlittler’s rookie season offered early proof that he has the ability and aptitude to make necessary adjustments. He endured his roughest outing on Sept. 5 against the Blue Jays, nicked for 24 foul balls and chased in the second inning. The Yanks determined Schlittler was tipping pitches.
Schlittler said Cole and Rodón helped him correct the issue, changing how he came to a set in the stretch position without pumping his glove. The fix surprised him.
“I started pre-gripping a changeup. I don’t even have a changeup,” Schlittler said. “So I started pre-gripping a changeup out of the windup and stretch, just to kind of avoid tinkering too much with one pitch or sitting on one.”
For Schlittler, the exchange reinforced the value of the room he now has the opportunity to walk into every day.
“You’ve got Hall of Famers in there, Cy Young winners,” Schlittler said. “I have a lot of resources to go talk to these people, where I’m just trying to get better. They want me to get better, because we just want to win games.”
