The New York Yankees soundly defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-0 in Wednesday’s exhibition matchup, led by pitching prospect Will Warren. The 25 year-old threw 3 perfect innings, striking out four and picking up the win. It was Warren’s second appearance this Spring Training, and his first start.
Warren, who started five games for New York last season, has been exceptional in his first few outings this spring. Ranked as the Yankees’ no. 5 prospect in 2024 according to MLB.com (and first amongst pitchers), Warren is one of the organization’s few elite pitching prospects, especially after no. 6 prospect Chase Hampton underwent Tommy John surgery last week.
Will Warren Overperforms
Recalled multiple times to replace injured starters, Warren certainly did not impress very much in his six outings last season. However, the stats are slightly misleading. Despite posting a 10.32 ERA and an 0-3 record, it was those three losses that blew up his stat line: according to Baseball Savant, Warren’s expected ERA last season was much lower than his actual ERA, at 4.52. Combine that with 29 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings, and suddenly there’s a lot more to Warren than an inflated ERA.
2024 still wasn’t his best season in the minor leagues, either. Across 23 starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he put up a 6-5 record with 5.91 and 136 strikeouts across 109 2/3 innings. Not very promising, but keep in mind that last season was an extreme outlier for Warren, who dominated Triple-A in 2023. Based on how he’s looking in Spring Training, it looks like things are getting back on track for the right-hander.
Will Warren, Wicked 84mph Sweeper.
3291 RPMs and 20 inches of horizontal break. pic.twitter.com/CzbGAqWkQK
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 26, 2025
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Why He’ll Improve
Recently, Yankees fans have been comparing Warren’s mechanics to those of the San Diego Padres’ Michael King, whom the Yankees dealt to San Diego as a part of the Juan Soto trade back in December of 2023.
While it’s a bit early to compare a Triple-A level prospect to the number two starter on a contending team, there are undoubtedly similarities between the two. Not only do they share similar builds, but their arsenals are almost identical: each throws a four-seamer, sinker, sweeper and changeup. A difference, though, is that Warren relies more on his fastball, throwing off-speed pitches 38.6% of the time, while King throws his sweeper, changeup and slider 48% of the time. Warren already gets a ton of strikeouts, so perhaps his key to success is commanding his breaking pitches to limit hard contact and improve his ground ball rate (37.7%). Even if it doesn’t happen right away, Warren certainly has the tools necessary to succeed at the major league level.
Expectations For This Season
With the Yankees’ rotation already overflowing, it’s almost certain that Warren will start the season in Triple-A. With six starters already on the roster, the only way that Warren would make the Opening Day roster is through the bullpen or an influx of injuries. The Yankees probably don’t want to overuse Warren out of the bullpen, though, considering he’s 25 years-old and one of their few high-end starting prospects. As for the latter, Clarke Schmidt is already questionable for Opening Day after aggravating his back, and the Yankees typically see their share of starters go down at times throughout the season. So, don’t count out the possibility of the Yankees recalling Warren once or twice later on down the stretch, and expect good things to come out of the young right-hander.
Main Photo Credits: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
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