During his last appearance in Triple-A on Tuesday, New York Yankees’ prospect Will Warren had a considerably disappointing performance.
In his brief 1.2-innings stint, he conceded four earned runs, three home runs, and two walks. Despite this setback, the team’s confidence in him remains extraordinarily high.
To provide some background, Warren initially began the season with Double-A Somerset, where he demonstrated outstanding performance.
In this league, he achieved a 2.45 ERA (1.78 FIP) in 29.1 innings. A particularly encouraging sign was the increase in his strikeout rate from 20.6 percent in the previous year to 32.2 percent in 2023. Although his walk rate did increase slightly, it was nothing that couldn’t be or hasn’t been, managed effectively.
In light of his success in Double-A, the Yankees decided to present Warren with a fresh challenge: getting Triple-A hitters out.
“He was still kind of dominating Double A even with a little tick up in walk rate,” minor-league pitching coordinator Sam Briend told The Athletic. “But we kind of wanted to challenge him and see if it would even speed up his growth even more if we put him in front of better hitters.”
The Yankees have a good one in Warren
Despite the initial unfavorable results (a 7.04 ERA in 7.2 innings in Scranton), the Yankees firmly believe that he will eventually make the necessary adjustments and excel. He could possibly become a valuable addition to the major league team during the course of the summer.
“I think he has the makeup,” Briend said. “I think he has the stuff. Tightening up that execution is that last piece and it’s really on his plate for how quickly this could materialize here.”
This season, Warren seems to have enhanced his pitching repertoire. He now boasts an effective sweeper (a hallmark pitch within the organization), a fastball that regularly clocks between 93 and 95 mph, occasionally reaching 96 mph, and a cutter that aids him in dismissing left-handed batters.
Before considering a move to the Bronx, the Yankees would appreciate seeing him consistently strike out batters when they have two strikes. They want him to strive for and succeed in achieving strikeouts. This was a skill he demonstrated effectively in Double-A, and now it’s a skill he needs to reproduce in Scranton.