New York Yankees Rising Star Continues To Impress, Battle for Roster Spot

This spring training star has a pathway to make the New York Yankees opening-day roster and even the starting rotation.

Mar 10, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Will Warren (98) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Dave Nelson-Imagn Images

With the start of the regular season for the New York Yankees nearly here, the team still has plenty of question marks after what has been a challenging spring training so far. 

The spring has not been kind to the Yankees, who have been ravaged by injuries to key players. 

Even though it was a strong offseason for New York, their depth is being tested right out of the gate. 

So far, the Yankees have lost their ace Gerrit Cole for the season already with Tommy John surgery. Furthermore, both Luis Gil and Giancarlo Stanton will be out until the summer, it appears. 

For the starting rotation, being down two front-end starters is far from ideal, and at this stage in the offseason, there isn’t a realistic way to replace them. 

Fortunately, New York does have some depth at starting pitching and have had a few players performing well this spring. Now, it will be interesting to see if success in March can carry over. 

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com recently wrote about Yankees starter Will Warren making the biggest impression on the team so far this spring. 

“Injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil will test the Yankees' pitching depth, and Warren appears poised to take advantage of the opportunity. Manager Aaron Boone said Warren has 'off-the-charts makeup' and believes he has the potential to be "a really good starter in this league,'" he wrote.

It has been a great spring training for Warren, who has seemingly come out of nowhere for the organization. The 25-year-old is pitching well, which wasn’t seen when he got a chance in the Majors last year. 

In 2024, Warren got a taste of playing in the Major Leagues, but the results weren’t good. He totaled a 10.32 ERA in 22.2 innings of work. 

However, while the results with the Yankees were poor, he also wasn’t great in the minors in 2024 with an ERA of 5.91. 

This spring, the 25-year-old looks like he has figured it out and is pitching great. In 15 2/3 innings pitched, he has totaled a 2.87 ERA and might be working his way into the rotation. 

Currently, with two spots open to being the year, the three most likely pitchers to grab the openings are Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco and Warren. 

While Carrasco is also having an impressive spring training, Stroman is struggling. However, the veteran right-hander is a two-time All-Star and seems like the most likely of the three to get on the Opening Day roster. 

However, the great spring by Warren has opened up some eyes in the organization, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he was in the rotation to begin the campaign.