New York Yankees Top Pitching Prospect Throws Dominant Spring Training Outing

The New York Yankees may have a very special pitcher coming up the pipeline.

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 dominated the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 7-0, holding them to just three hits on the the day.

While a victory is always nice to see no matter what time of the year it is, the reality surrounding spring training is that outcomes matter significantly less than the performance of individual players.

Everyone has their eye on top prospects and young stars, and the spring is a time to evaluate the Yankees of the future.

There was one prospect in particular who stood out above the rest in his first start of the spring, and if he continues to emerge, he could establish himself as a key member of the starting rotation sooner rather than later.

New York's top pitching prospect, right-hander Will Warren, was perfect in his three innings on Wednesday, giving up no hits, no runs and no walks to go along with four strikeouts while displaying some nasty stuff.

In 35 pitches, Warren showcased a ton from his elite repertoire, throwing his sinker, sweeper and four-seamer for the most part, while also mixing in a couple of changeups and curveballs.

It was the second outing of the spring for Warren. He threw two innings last Friday in another shutout victory over the Tampa Bay Rays and was extremely impressive then as well.

Through five total innings this spring over both appearances, Warren has a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA, a 0.400 WHIP and seven strikeouts.

The 25-year-old made his debut during the 2024 season, but things did not go well in his six appearances and five starts. With a 10.32 ERA and 1.897 over 22.2 innings pitched, Warren was not quite ready for the jump to the Major Leagues, but earned some valuable experience nonetheless.

With numbers in Triple-A during the 2024 season which were not as strong on the surface as the year prior - 5.91 ERA in 23 starts versus a 3.61 ERA in 19 starts in 2023 - Warren actually took a major leap in terms of developing his arsenal and forcing more swing and misses in 2024.

A noticeable uptick in strikeouts per inning with 136 K's in 109.2 innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he showed the team he was well on his way to becoming a big league arm.

Seeing him recover from the setback last season and come out this spring with such a strong performance thus far is incredibly encouraging and shows a high level of maturity from someone the Yankees hope is potentially a future ace.

With a crowded starting rotation headed into the 2025 season, Warren has a difficult path to joining the staff from the beginning of the year, but if he keeps posting numbers like this he is going to at least give New York something to seriously think about.