New York Yankees Young Pitcher Needs To Find Complementary Pitch to Elite Offering

New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren performed at a high level during spring training, pushing for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

His path to the starting rotation looked to be blocked until injuries arose. With Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt all sidelined to begin the campaign, Warren was part of the mix right from the start.

There have been some encouraging signs across his first five starts, performing at a much better level than he did during his debut in 2024.

Last year, Warren pitched 22.2 innings and was tattooed. He surrendered 33 hits and 10 walks resulting in 27 runs scored against him, 26 of which were earned. Five home runs were given up as well, resulting in an ugly 10.32 ERA.

Through his first 20.2 innings this year, he has fared much better.

Warren has a 4.79 ERA, but a FIP of 3.70, which hints that some bad luck may be involved in his statistics. Walks remain a concern with a 4.4 BB/9 ratio, but his strikeout rate remains relatively the same at 24.1% after registering a 26.4% last year.

What could bump up that strikeout rate would be throwing his fastball with a little more frequency since it has been his best offering thus far this season and a dominant one at that.

As shared by Michael Salfino of The Athletic (subscription required), Warren is generating an elite 41.9% whiff rate with his four-seam fastball thus far this season and an xwOBA of .256.

“Remember, the four-seam fastball is generally the pitch that hitters hit the best, so being about 80 points below average in xWOBA is outstanding,” Salfino wrote.

Heading into his start on Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians, Warren had an ERA of 5.17 and xERA of 5.45. Both numbers came down with a solid five-inning performance in which he surrendered two earned runs to go along with five strikeouts.

If he wants to continue turning things around, it is imperative that he finds another offering to complement his excellent four-seam fastball.

According to Baseball Savant, his offspeed offerings have been abysmal in 2025 with a -3 value, which is the third percentile in baseball. Improvement needs to be shown there or his performance will not be taken to the next level.

As Salfino noted, fastballs are what Major League hitters normally have the most success facing off against. If he has some regression to the mean, it would be nice to have another pitch to rely on to help keep opposing batters off balance.

Optimism should remain high, as Baseball Savant has comped Warren to Michael King of the San Diego Padres as the most similar pitcher when it comes to velocity and movement.

King also had a slow start to his Major League career with the Yankees before figuring things out. Part of the Juan Soto blockbuster trade, he has turned himself into a legitimate ace with the Padres.

If things click and Warren reaches that level in 2025, New York would be ecstatic.