The Yankees may have stumbled upon their next great homegrown pitcher, as 25-year-old right-hander Will Warren continues to impress in spring training.
A year ago, Warren got his first taste of major league action and was roughed up, finishing with a 10.32 ERA over 22.2 innings. But the numbers don’t tell the full story—his strikeout rate was strong, and his slider showed flashes of elite potential. After an offseason dedicated to refining his mechanics, Warren has returned with a different edge, looking far more confident and polished.
Yankees’ Spring Training Showing a New Warren
On Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays, Warren put together another solid outing. He worked into the fifth inning before being pulled with runners on base. The bullpen couldn’t clean up the mess, leaving him charged with three earned runs over four innings. Despite the final stat line, he struck out four batters and continued to flash the kind of movement on his pitches that has the Yankees excited.
With Gerrit Cole out for the season and Luis Gil sidelined for at least three months, Warren now finds himself a key piece of the starting rotation. He’s expected to win the No. 5 job, slotting in behind veteran Marcus Stroman. Ironically, Stroman himself had been the subject of trade rumors earlier in the offseason, but with the injuries piling up, he and Warren are both now essential to the team’s plans.
Affordable, Controllable, and Full of Upside
One of the biggest advantages Warren brings is his contract situation. As a pre-arbitration player, the Yankees have six years of control over him at a bargain price. Given how expensive pitching has become—exemplified by the $218 million they gave Max Fried this offseason—having a young, cost-controlled arm emerge as a legitimate rotation piece would be a massive win.
The tools are all there: he has solid velocity, a slider that generates plenty of swings and misses, and he’s been working on refining his changeup and curveball to attack left-handed hitters more effectively. The Yankees clearly see his upside, and even catcher Austin Wells has made a point of prioritizing catching Warren in camp to get a better feel for how he likes to work.
“I think [Warren] is going to be an important part of the team and he’s got really nasty stuff, so just wanted to try to get on the same page with him, what he’s been working on and what we want to see from him,” Wells said.
Lessons From a Rough 2024
Warren isn’t shying away from his struggles last season, instead using them as a learning experience. He recognized that he was often pitching from behind in counts, something that major league hitters will punish every time.
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“Looking back at some stuff from last year, I was always fighting back,” Warren said. “These are the greatest hitters in the world, so when you’re setting it up for them to have success, it’s hard to pitch.”
With a year of growth under his belt and a renewed approach on the mound, Warren is shaping up to be an x-factor for the Yankees in 2025. If he can take a significant step forward, he won’t just be filling in for an injured rotation—he could be carving out a long-term role for himself in the Bronx.