By Billy Watkins
Before we talk about former Jackson Prep pitcher Will Warren’s ascension to a dependable member of the New York Yankees’ starting rotation in his first full Major League season, let’s remind ourselves of a few things.
He is pitching for arguably the No. 1 sports franchise in the world, winner of 27 world championships in a city of 8.5 million people. He is wearing the pinstripe uniform, same as Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mariano Rivera, Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter. With all that comes the brightest spotlights, vicious scrutiny, unrealistic expectations. It is often too much for some players to deal with.
It gets worse when the Yankees are losing as they have been lately. They’ve watched a seven- game lead atop the American League East in late May disappear. They are now 6.5 games behind Toronto, 1.5 games behind Boston and just a half-game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians for the last wild card spot.
But through all of this, with every pitch being diagnosed and analyzed by the media and Yankee faithful, Warren has seemed unfazed by the whole thing.
In 19 of 25 starts, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Warren has allowed three or fewer earned runs. Over his past seven games, he’s only failed once to go at least five innings. He ranks third on the staff in innings pitched (121) and second in strikeouts (140). He is 7-6 with a 4.34 ERA.
“He’s going to get some Rookie of the Year votes,” said analyst Jack Curry on the YES Network’s postgame show last Monday night following Warren’s latest victory. “I’m not sure he’ll win it, but if he continues on this trend he will get some votes. He’s been that solid.”
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Yes, this is the kid who was 5-foot-4 his sophomore year at Jackson Prep and hardly played. He grew eight inches and helped lead the Patriots to the 2017 state championship his senior year.
After a solid career at Southeastern Louisiana, he was drafted in the eighth round by the Yankees in 2021.
Manager Aaron Boone talked non-stop during spring training about Warren’s “stuff” — a 95 mile-per-hour fastball that has crazy movement because of his arm angle, a nasty sinker and a wicked sweeper.
The manager and coaches wanted Warren to trust his “stuff” as much as they did.
Finally, he is, and at just the right time.
Monday night against the Twins at Yankee Stadium, he pitched 6.2 innings, gave up two runs, struck out seven and allowed no walks. A team that had lost seven of its previous nine games needed such a performance.
“He filled up the strike zone,” manager Aaron Boone said afterward. “He was on the attack. And he can live in the strike zone because of his stuff.”
“What that means is, he can throw his fastball down the middle to big-league hitters and get swing and misses,” explained former Yankees catcher John Flaherty on the postgame show. “The reason Aaron Boone talks about that so much is that it’s very unusual. Usually, pitchers have to be on the corners or get them to swing at pitches outside the strike zone. Will Warren doesn’t have to do that because his fastball is so electric.”
Added Curry: “I’ve seen a lot of young pitchers who can’t get through a big-league season physically or mentally. But this kid is getting better, stronger and I think he’s realizing what he needs to do to be successful at this level. It starts with the fastball and ends with the fastball.”
Warren, who turned 26 in June, got his chance to earn a starting spot when ace Gerrit Cole had to undergo Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil was also injured during spring training. Props to Warren for setting his sights on the vacancy and never wavering.
New York Times writer Bob Klapisch asked Boone where the team might be without Warren. The manager didn’t answer the question directly, but offered this: “He’s had a really strong season for us. He continues to grow, continues to get better. And what I really like is that every time he’s had a rough one — and he’s had a handful of those — he’s had the ability to bounce back.”
Curry took a stab at the same question: “You look at what he’s done through the whole season and he’s got an ERA of 4.34. But if you toss two of those starts when he got destroyed — one against the Dodgers and one against Toronto — it’s under 3.50. For the most part, he’s been more than a respectable pitcher in his first full season.
“You know what Will Warren has to do for the rest of the season? Continue to pitch like this so that the Yankees have to answer this: Max Fried. Carlos Rodon. And then who pitches the third game in a postseason series? Put some pressure on Luis Gil. Say ‘Maybe I’m the guy who deserves to pitch in a Game 3.’ ”
Warren is scheduled to pitch again Sunday at St. Louis. He will take this to the mound with him: “You get a start or two under your belt and you get a little more confident and realize that I can get away with fastballs and sinkers in the zone as long as I stay aggressive through the zone and to the spot, which is really nice,” Warren said after the game. “You fall behind 2-0 or 3-0, you can basically say ‘Here it is’ and let the guys play behind me. I do have confidence that I can beat ‘em in a 3-0 count.
“My confidence is good. Not comfortable, but it’s nice knowing that I plan on taking the ball every five days and I can lean on that. Now, let’s give us a chance to win by going deep into games.”
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