Will

Warren

Warren’s excellent start to the season continued with a gem here against the Orioles. His sweeper was lethal as always, forcing six of his 12 total swings-and-misses, but it was especially impressive how he was able to steal strikes with it early in the count against left-handed batters. He threw four sweepers as the first pitch to a lefty, and all four landed for called strikes. They’ve always been a problem spot for him, so just getting ahead of them is a big deal. Plus he had a nice feel for his changeup in this one too, a very important pitch for him to get lefties. Overall, he has a sterling 2.39 ERA on the season with a 46:8 strikeout to walk ratio over 37 2/3 innings. He’s scheduled to face the Rangers next time out.

Instead, the Yankees will call up starting pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez to make his MLB debut on Wednesday. Yankees manager Aaron Boone has confirmed that Warren is not dealing with any injury but that the team is just realigning its rotation. That realignment has not yet been announced, but the Yankees could just push Warren and Ryan Weathers back one day each, which would allow them to start against Baltimore along with Max Fried and Cam Schlittler.

Warren racked up six strikeouts on the evening while allowing only one base on balls. The Astros scratched out single runs against him in the second and fourth innings, but aside from that Warren was in complete command. It doesn’t hurt that he was staked to an early four-run lead and just needed to keep the train on the tracks to earn a victory. Warren got seven swings and misses on 95 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 25 percent. Now 3-0 on the season, he’ll carry an impressive 2.59 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 37/7 K/BB ratio (31 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s tilt against the Rangers in Arlington.

Warren received a touchdown and a field goal’s worth of run support from New York’s formidable lineup and held up his end of the bargain, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning before finally relenting a two-run homer to Royals rookie Carter Jensen. He was in complete control from the outset in this one, generating 11 swinging strikes and needing just 93 pitches (62 strikes) to navigate seven frames. He’ll carry a sharp 2.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 31/6 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings into a road tilt against the Astros on Friday.

Only plunking Jo Adell prevented Warren from being perfect through three. However, the fourth started with a José Caballero error, and Warren was pulled after giving up a double with one out and then a single, a walk and another single with two outs. It probably had to be done with Warren up to 37 pitches in the inning. Warren struck out six, and since the run support wasn’t lacking, there’s a great chance he would have gotten a win tonight if only he could have overcome the error. He’ll face the Royals this weekend.

Both runs scored in the fourth on three singles, a walk and a wild pitch. Warren would have gotten through the fifth, but a Ben Rice error extended the inning, and Tim Hill was brought in to retire Lawrence Butler with two outs. Warren ended up striking out five and walking three. His ERA sits at 3.07, and he should be a nice streaming option next week with scheduled home starts against the Angels and Royals.

He struck out six and didn’t walk anybody. Warren did leave with a couple of ducks on the pond, but Tim Hill came on to strand both and keep Warren’s shot at a win alive. Warren’s fastball velocity dropped a bit today, down to 93.6 mph from a 94.7 average in his first start. The Yankees will remain a great environment to chase wins with, but we’re not seeing much of a step forward yet from Warren, who despite the early-season 2.70 ERA has remained fairly hittable.

This probably would have been a win for Warren a few weeks from now, but the Yankees opted to lift him at 82 pitches with two outs to go in the fifth. Warren seems like a significant improved pitcher in year two, which might complicate things for the Yankees in a good way once Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole come back. He’s a decent mixed-league play for now, particularly with the Marlins up next.

Warren concluded an exceptional spring with a 1.42 ERA and a 22/3 K/BB in 25 1/3 innings. He was actually hit rather hard today — the 10 balls in play against him averaged 99.1 mph off the bat — but most of the contact was on the ground. Warren is likely to start the Yankees’ third game of the season Saturday in San Francisco, and he seems like a fine streaming option for those who have drafted some injured pitchers.

That means Luis Gil is the odd man out, at least for now. It’s unclear if he’ll remain back at the team’s spring training facility to keep working and stay stretched out as a starter or if he’ll head north with the team and operate in a long relief role out of the bullpen for the time being. Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers will start the club’s first four games.