Will Warren arrived at spring training as the Yankees’ seventh starter.
Thirty-three starts later, the rookie right-hander’s regular season is complete.
It was not always smooth sailing, but Warren proved to be a key cog in the Yankees rotation for his durability and giving them a chance to win on most nights, as he did Friday in an 8-4 win over the Orioles.
Warren was hurt by two home runs while giving up four runs in five-plus innings, but struck out seven and picked up the win while finishing with a 4.44 ERA and 171 strikeouts across 162¹/₃ innings.
“I think as starters, being able to post every five days, come out there and throw and eat innings and go as deep as you can in the game to give these guys a chance to win [is the key],” Warren said. “That’s 33 starts — Max [Fried] had 32 and Carlos [Rodón] had 33. I think that’s pretty remarkable for three guys to go the whole season and not really miss any. I think I’m most proud of that.”
Warren became only the third Yankees rookie to make at least 33 starts in a season and the only rookie to do so in the majors in the last 17 years.
“Really good, and he’s not done yet, either,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But if you would have told me at the start of the year he’s going to make 33 starts and give you 160 innings, strike out 10 per nine, have some bumps along the way … man, he did a lot of really good things and was a staple in our rotation.”
Warren’s role in the postseason remains to be determined — the bullpen appears more likely than the rotation — but he is up for anything.
“Ultimately, I just want to win,” Warren said. “I’m willing to do whatever, however that looks. We’ll take it and run with it.”
Part of the reason why Warren may be bumped from the rotation in the playoffs is because of the emergence of Cam Schlittler, who will make final regular-season start Saturday in what could be a prelude to being the Yankees’ third starter in October.
“I’ve been super impressed [by his mentality],” Boone said. “Hard to put a finger on it, he seems to have that good ‘it’ quality about him, where he does have a lot of confidence. Lot of self-awareness though, too. He’s real accountable. Wants to keep getting better and move that needle.”
Camilo Doval struck out the side in the eighth inning, giving him six straight scoreless appearances.
That is part of a bullpen that has not allowed a run over its last 19²/₃ innings.
Giancarlo Stanton’s home run in the bottom of the first broke the single-season MLB record for home runs by a team in the first inning, the Yankees’ 48th, which passed the 2023 Braves.
Aaron Judge finished the season with the second-most popular jersey in MLB, trailing only Shohei Ohtani.
No other Yankee was in the top 20.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
