Yankees Rotation Must Include Will Warren Even After Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon Return

Will Warren may not be able to reach the high 90s with the regularity that others in the New York Yankees rotation, like Ryan Weathers or Luis Gil, can. He sits at 93.9 MPH. He can dial it up, though, and that was on display when he blew a 96.9 MPH sinker right by Maikel Garcia, which was his second-hardest pitch of the season.

What Warren has that his other rotation mates don't is stability. One thing about him is he has shown an ability to take the ball every fifth day. A glance at his transaction page on Baseball Savant shows a slew of terminology, from "optioned" and "activated," since he became a pro in 2021. He hasn't seen a single injury stint.

Knock on every piece of wood you can after taking that bit of information in, but when Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are both ready to go, it's the biggest reason why Warren should stay in the rotation. Admittedly, it's easy to put on the rose colored glasses for Warren with the way he carved up the Royals' rotation for six innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts.

11 punchouts for Will Warren!

He matches his career high in strikeouts across 7 strong innings 💪

(MLB x @Abbvie) pic.twitter.com/0BLFFjfUug
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2026

Warren has slowly become the face of dependability in that rotation. While his ceiling is not as high as Weathers or guys in the minors, such as Carlos Lagrange or Elmer Cruz-Rodriguez, one thing the Yankees can count on is he will take the ball. Warren will also do everything he can to improve.

He started from rock bottom in 2024, getting shelled with regularity, and has steadily improved since then. It doesn't even feel like this is the same Warren who gave up a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the American League Division Series coming out of the bullpen.

Of course, 2026 is still in its infancy, and things can change, but if Warren stays on this trajectory, what does he look like at the end of the year? What does he look like a year from now? Where is he just before reaching free agency?

The Best Version of Warren the Yankees Have Seen

Warren has pitched seven innings once. That was a start against the Angels in May of 2025. He pitched into the seventh inning twice in 2024, but was pulled before completing the full seven. Those three games would probably be in the top three of his best starts, but he may have eclipsed those against the Royals.

The blemish on the day is those two runs, but if the score is closer, the Royals don't get a chance to get to Warren. It was clear that once the game was out of reach, and the Yankees took a commanding 10-0 lead at the end of his start, he began throwing strikes just to move the game along.

Before then, he was moving on the mound with finesse, and the Royals had nothing for his fastball and sinker. He generated seven whiffs on his fastball with 17 called strikes. Then, with his sinker, he had one swing and miss with six called strikes.

Postgame Quotes

"What's stood out to me is how much swing-and-miss he is getting with his fastball," Aaron Boone said, via the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "He's got a unique delivery and slot that allows that to play. He's a better pitcher now than he was last year and the end of last year, and he keeps growing."

After the game, Warren remarked on his length. It was the thing that he was most proud of.

"Our job as a starter is to go as long as possible and get as many outs," said Warren. "I hadn't been doing that to the standard that I hold myself. So today was really nice to go out there and do that."

This season, Warren has a 2.49 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched. It's not nearly enough innings to make a strong case about where he's headed one way or another, but it's a solid start to his year, nonetheless.

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