Yankees pitching prospect Will Warren has a 1.13 ERA over three outings this spring.
losing Luis Gil to a high-grade lat strainWarren threw three innings of one-run ball against a representative Phillies lineup on Tuesday. He struck out four and gave up only one hit, a solo home run from Max Kepler.
It was Warren’s first run allowed of the spring. He’s up to eight innings pitched with 11 strikeouts, two hits allowed and the one earned run. That’s good for a sparkling 1.13 ERA.. “The changeup’s real now. You see the life on the fastball … I thought he executed a lot. Another good day for him.”If there was a clear opening in the Yankees’ rotation right now then Warren would be the favorite to swoop in. Think of how Gil stepped up and won the vacant rotation spot this time last year when Gerrit Cole hurt his elbow. Warren faces an $18 million obstacle no matter how dominant he is over these last three weeks of camp, though. Marcus Stroman will take Gil’s spot in the rotation to begin the year. That was always one of the two clear, one of the biggest storylines over the first few days of camp last month. Either the Yankees were going to trade Stroman because their rotation was healthy and he wasn’t willing to pitch out of the bullpen or they needed the veteran to fill in to start the year because someone got hurt. Don’t tell Warren he’s the odd man out, though. It’s a small early-spring sample so far, but the signs of progress since his shaky big-league cameos last summer are glaring. “I’m trying to make the team,” Warren told reporters after his start on Tuesday. “So, I’m fighting. I need to be ready to go day one. But, yeah, there’s still stuff that’s a work in progress.” That’s the challenge for Warren. His results do matter this time of year so he needs to find the right balance between getting hitters out and working on certain parts of his arsenal, taking advantage of a non-regular season opportunity to get feedback from opposing hitters. Would the Yankees consider moving Stroman even now that he’s poised to factor into the rotation with Gil down? It’s an interesting question to come back to in a few weeks if Warren continues to excel, looking ready for a return to pinstripes. Perhaps another team becomes desperate for starting pitching close to Opening Day and they come calling about Stroman’s availability. It could be a way to address another weakness — like third base, let’s say — if the Yankees are OK with eating a significant chunk of Stroman’s salary and committing to Warren as the next man up in their starting staff. Non-roster invitee Carlos Carrasco has also impressed this spring, so he’s another backup plan in case of injury. That scenario would be a risk, though. Warren is off to quite a hot start, but it’s only three spring outings. Besides, the regular season is a different animal. This is the same pitcher who had a 10.32 ERA in the big leagues last season. Opponents slashed .340/.404/.608 against Warren over his 22 2/3 MLB innings. Has he improved enough to completely distance himself from those results? Plus, for as poorly as Stroman pitched in the second half of last season, he was effective to begin the year. He had a 2.60 ERA with an opposing batting average of .218 and OPS of .678 over his first 12 outings last season. With improved defense for the Yankees, Stroman very well could give his team a chance to win every time he takes the ball while pitching in Gil’s place. It’s hard to ignore the way Stroman finished last year, though. After those dozen starts, he had a 5.70 ERA, .319 opponent BA and .853 opponent OPS across 18 appearances the rest of the way. The most realistic outcome here, if the rest of the Yankees’ staff doesn’t get hit by the injury bug, is Warren will begin the season in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He has minor-league options and Stroman can plug in until Gil is ready to return. That doesn’t mean the Yankees won’t turn to Warren early and often when they need another arm in the Bronx. As catcher Austin Wells said after Warren’s last outing, this right-hander is going to be “an important part of the team” this year.Yankees' Luis Gil turned to teammate for instant injury advice Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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