Chris “Mad Dog” Russo did not stand a chance this week with Cam Schlittler’s name.
The veteran New York-based sports host Russo went viral this week over his horrifically botched pronunciation of the name of Schlittler, the New York Yankees pitcher. During an episode of his “Mad Dog Unleashed” show, Russo was discussing the Yankees’ pitching staff and made a mention of Schlittler.
In what can only be described as a complete verbal faceplant, Russo produced an absolutely deranged pronunication of “Schlittler.” Take a listen for yourself to the abomination that Russo coughed up.
I can’t even begin to explain how Chris “Mad Dog” Russo just tried to pronounce Cam Schlittler. pic.twitter.com/CejxSgk2Dy
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 7, 2026
That sounded much closer to “Scheetleranin” than to Schlittler’s actual name. One has to question whether Russo suddenly saw the Tower of Babel there and was moved to start speaking in tongues.
The 25-year-old Schlittler has also been pitching well enough this season to get his name pronounced properly. Through eight starts this season, Schlittler is 5-1 with an MLB-leading 1.52 ERA and an AL-leading 0.87 WHIP.
In fairness, Schlittler’s name has definitely tripped a lot of other analysts in the recent past (including ex-Yankees star Alex Rodriguez). But for Russo, that was a whole lot of syllables … and none of them in the right place.
