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The Yankees’ Will Warren Is Thriving This Spring

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports | By Jack Rotolo | Last updated Mar 14, 2026 2:32 PM ET

Even with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón out to begin the year, the New York Yankees still boast one of the American League’s best rotations. This is in part because of all the young talent New York has in terms of pitching; this year, 22-year-old Carlos Lagrange is already looking the part of a no. 2 overall prospect, and last year’s rookies in Will Warren and Cam Schlittler are both in positions to take massive steps forward this season. In particular, Warren’s recent performances this spring have been outstanding, and he looks all but ready to take the next step forward in his Yankee career.

Total Dominance

Granted, the World Baseball Classic has rightfully stolen all of the baseball world’s attention. Perhaps this is the reason why Warren’s incredible spring has gone mostly unnoticed, even by Yankee fans. Over the 26-year-old’s four starts this Spring Training, he currently has a 1.56 ERA, 12 strikeouts, and just two walks over 16 1/3 innings. Considering that this is just his second full season coming up, the Yankees should be cautiously excited for their young hurler.

Will Warren, K’ing the Side. pic.twitter.com/3bQ1eStQm6

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 1, 2026

Even without a dominant spring performance, Warren is almost guaranteed a spot in New York’s rotation, at least to begin the season. With Rodon and Cole out for a few months each and Clarke Schmidt not expected to return until around July, Warren has a shot to both prove himself as a starter with legitimate Major League talent, as well as earn himself a permanent position in the starting rotation.

Strikeout Stuff

Like fellow sophomore Schlittler, Warren dominates hitters mostly through the strikeout. However, unlike Schlittler, who dominates with a triple-digit heater and pinpoint command, Warren accomplishes this with multiple off-speed pitches and a vast arsenal consisting of a sinker, four-seamer, sweeper, changeup, and curveball. This combination of pitches helped him rack up 171 strikeouts over 162 1/3 innings in 2025.

Mar 12, 2026; Lakeland, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Will Warren (98) pitches during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Still, walks are a problem for Warren. It’s not so much that Warren struggles with locating his pitches, but more of a mental issue. Last season, most of Warren’s bad starts began with total bombardment; walk, hit, walk, hit, hit, walk, etc. Warren clearly knows this, since it looks like he’s made it an objective to limit walks and strand baserunners as much as possible this spring.

Future Franchise Pitcher?

It is impossible to tell whether or not a pitcher will succeed in Major League Baseball for years to come; pitchers tend to experience more frequent and aggressive injuries than position players, so reaching one’s ceiling from the mound is not so easy. It also takes a lot of frequent, in-game adjustments that are crucial to maintaining success. For Warren, it looks like he has all the tools necessary to thrive as a starting pitcher; the only question is whether or not those tools will be able to improve/translate from Spring Training into the games that truly matter.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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