New York Yankees Prospect Looks Like Star in Making in Spring Training

Arguably the biggest advantage that the New York Yankees will have over their opponents during the 2025 season is their pitching staff.

The Yankees have put together arguably the best rotation in baseball with their addition of Max Fried in free agency. He joins the top of the rotation along with Gerrit Cole, as Carlos Rodon, reigning Rookie of the Year Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt round things out.

The team also has veteran Marcus Stroman on the roster, but his future with the team is up in the air as the rotation looks crowded and he has let it be known he will not be pitching out of the bullpen.

Teams can never have too much pitching, but it would certainly make a lot of sense for New York to move Stroman if the opportunity presented itself.

It would help them avoid a potential issue during the season of an unpleasant player and the team could save some money on the payroll by trading him.

Also, they look to have some incredible depth in the rotation that should take precedence in the pecking order should the need arise for another starter at the Major League level.

One player who is making a strong case to be the first call should the need arise is Will Warren.

An eighth round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, he made his Major League debut on July 30, 2024. He made six appearances for the Yankees, throwing 22.2 innings, and the results were underwhelming.

Warren surrendered 27 runs, 26 of which were earned, resulting in an ugly 10.32 ERA.

The one positive to his stat line was that he racked up 29 strikeouts. Unfortunately for the young pitcher, when opponents made contact, it was hard and it did damage.

That is certainly not the MLB debut Warren or the team was hoping for, but he has reaffirmed his top prospect status within the organization with an incredible start to spring training.

He has made two appearances, throwing 5.0 innings and striking out seven with only one walk and one hit allowed.

In his spring debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, his entire arsenal was clicking. His changeup, four-seam fastball and sweeper all graded out as above-average offerings with proStuff+ numbers of at least 117.

He was missing bats at an eye-popping rate and when opponents did make contact it was weak with a 0.0% barrel rate during the outing.

Will Warren, aka Michael King 2.0, fired two insanely effective innings in his Spring Training debut!

He's a stuff monster, capable of making the ball move in ways most pitchers can't.

Let's hope he puts it all together for the season! pic.twitter.com/GIeUICo2Qq
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 21, 2025

It was more of the same in his second outing against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Warren pitched three perfect innings, facing nine batters and retiring them all in order with four strikeouts.

Once again, opposing batters couldn’t generate hard contact with a 0.0% barrel rate. All of his pitches were above-average in proStuff+, as his sweeper is starting to generate a lot of attention.

He threw the pitch on 37.1% of his offerings and it left batters baffled with a 100.0% whiff rate.

Will Warren, aka Michael King 2.0, is on a roll this Spring Training!

This guy is a stuff monster, recording a 100% whiff rate on the sweeper and a 60% whiff rate on his four-seamer today! pic.twitter.com/yClJlqyoaB
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 26, 2025

The Yankees have done a really solid job of developing pitching talent over the last few years and Warren looks to be the next front end starter.

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