New York Yankees Prospect Emerges as Top Candidate to Fill Luis Gil's Rotation Spot

The New York Yankees should turn to one of their young pitchers to replace Luis Gil in the rotation.

Feb 26, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren (98) throws a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees have had to deal with a number of injuries during spring training that will adjust their plans for the regular season.

Several players who were set to be parts of their Opening Day roster don’t look like they are going to be ready for the start of the season.

One of those players is starting pitcher Luis Gil.

The reigning American League Rookie of the Year is dealing with a high-grade lat strain in his shoulder. He is being shut down for at least six weeks and will not throw during that time.

At the earliest, May will be when he makes a return to the rotation as he is going to need several weeks to ramp up his activity after that amount of time being sidelined.

Luckily for the Yankees, they still have veteran Marcus Stroman on the roster who is capable of stepping into Gil’s spot in the rotation. He has made his feelings very clear on pitching out of the bullpen, something he does not want to do, and could have the chance to be a starter again.

However, New York should continue shopping him in an effort to slash some payroll.

Instead, they can turn to one of their top prospects, Will Warren, to step into the rotation for however long Gil is sidelined for.

His Major League debut in 2024 was not pretty. He made six appearances, pitching 22.2 innings and was tagged for 27 runs, 26 of which were earned.

Opponents tattooed him with an average exit velocity of 92.7 mph and hard-hit rate of 50.7%. Five home runs were surrendered as nothing was working for him on the mound.

Fast forward to camp and he looks to have figured out a lot. The promise that Warren’s 11.5 K/9 hinted at is coming to fruition, as he is performing at an elite level.

He has been one of the team’s standouts during spring training, pitching 8.0 innings with only two hits and one earned run allowed while striking out 11.

Warren isn’t doing this against non-roster invitees and minor leaguers, as his average opponent quality is 8.4; 8 is Triple-A and 10 is MLB.

In his most recent outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, he continued with his incredible performance, looking like a legitimate breakout candidate if given the opportunity.

His proStuff+ score of 117 is very strong and he generated a solid amount of swing and misses with a 23.5% whiff rate. Most importantly, he is keeping hitters off balanced with a 0.0% barrel rate.

His sweeper was truly impressive, registering a proStuff+ of 139. Another complementary pitch, his changeup, was also excellent with a 120 proStuff+. He has been tinkering with the offspeed pitch and whatever he has done is working incredibly.

So far in Spring Training, Will Warren has thrown some of the nastiest stuff among starting pitchers while keeping the walk concerns in check.

Buy your Will Warren stock now! pic.twitter.com/2hYzeH3oWh

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 4, 2025

The nasty stuff is something that has been popping up consistently in spring, as the sweeper has been baffling hitters every outing.

It would make a lot of sense for the Yankees to give him an extended look as Gil’s replacement, as they know what Stroman will offer and would benefit more from the savings generated by trading him.