The MVP chatter around Yankees ace Cam Schlittler is growing louder, but he doesn't pay it any mind.

If you mention the American League Cy Young to Cam Schlittler, you won't get much of a response. The Yankees' young righty is laser-focused on his job every five days, particularly now that the postseason is within reach.

After dominating the Mets in the Subway Series on Wednesday—six sharp innings in a 2–0 win that moved him to the top of the MLB ERA leaderboard—Schlittler's sustained brilliance has the Yankees wondering if he'll need to clear more shelf space for trophies this offseason.

"I think 'valuable' is the right word. He might even be the MVP," manager Aaron Boone said. "He's been incredible. It's been a fantastic season, and hopefully he still has plenty of gas left in the tank."

No pitcher has won the MVP since Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers in 2014. This year, Yordan Alvarez of the Astros and Junior Caminero of the Rays are in the conversation, but Schlittler deserves consideration too.

"There's a precedent, right?" said Cody Bellinger, who was Kershaw's teammate in Los Angeles. "Kershaw was phenomenal that year, and Schlittler has been doing it all season. That would be exciting."

Three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge has a slightly different take.

"He's certainly pitching like an MVP, but the Cy Young exists for a reason—it's for the best pitcher in the league," Judge said. "So my vote for the Cy Young is definitely for him."

With support from Ben Rice's team-leading 38th home run and Austin Wells' solo shot in the third inning, Schlittler held the Mets hitless until Brett Baty laced a double off the right-field wall in the fifth.

According to Schlittler, part of his motivation came from the pro-Mets chants during the Subway Series the day before.

"Hearing all those Mets chants yesterday kind of annoyed me," Schlittler said. "I wanted to come out here today and shut that noise down."

As for the award talk, he's as uninterested as ever.

"I don't know anything about that," Schlittler said when asked about MVP buzz. "It's a nice compliment."

This start was Schlittler's eighth scoreless outing of the season, second in the majors only to the Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez (10). His ERA dropped to 1.949, edging out Brewers righty Jacob Misiorowski's 1.952.

"I think the best is yet to come," Wells said. "He's still getting better. The more big league innings he logs, the more he'll understand his own abilities—he might even surpass where he is now."

The end of the game was painful. Bo Bichette smashed a 111.5-mph comebacker that struck Schlittler's right leg. The ball caromed to Wells, who threw out Bichette at first for the out.

Schlittler walked straight to the clubhouse after that play, though he had already thrown 94 pitches and his workload was nearly done anyway.

"I feel fine," Schlittler said. "It'll be interesting to recover over the next few days, but I think we're in a good spot."

Schlittler's 1.95 ERA is the second-lowest through 31 starts by a Yankees pitcher since Ron Guidry's 1.71 in 1978. That year, "Louisiana Lightning" Guidry won the Cy Young and finished second in MVP voting to the Red Sox' Jim Rice.

Schlittler's outing against the Mets perfectly encapsulated his season.

It was his 21st start allowing one run or fewer—a franchise record. Over the past 110 years, only three pitchers age 25 or younger have accomplished that many in a season: Dean Chance (1964, age 22), Blake Snell (2018, age 21), and Babe Ruth (1916, age 21).

His eight strikeouts brought his season total to 228.

"Every five days, when I know he's pitching, it's 'Hey, grind out that pitcher, get one run, and let Cam handle the rest,'" Judge said. "Whether we're on a losing streak or playing great, he's the same every day. He just goes out and pitches."

Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar combined to shut out the Mets for the Yankees. New York's magic number to clinch a playoff spot fell to 1, as they push for their ninth postseason appearance in the last ten years.

That's still the only competition Schlittler wants to focus on.

"The expectation is to make the playoffs, the expectation is to win a championship," Schlittler said. "If we keep doing what we're doing, we're in good shape."