May 4, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren (98) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The New York Yankees have started to slip up late, losing back-to-back series against divisional foes.
While the overall season has been a success and the Yankees are in first place, they are just four games over .500 heading into a series against the San Diego Padres.
In the series loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, a persistent issue for the team so far this year cost them once again, and that was the back end of their starting rotation.
New York came into the campaign short-handed in the rotation with a need for some pitchers that likely weren’t going to be pitching in the Majors much this year to step up into significant roles.
One of those pitchers was 25-year-old right-hander Will Warren. The young starter had a nice spring and earned his spot on the Opening Day roster with injuries taking out three of their Yankees’ projected starters. However, the results in the Majors haven’t been great for the right-hander.
So far, Warren has totaled a 1-2 record, 5.65 ERA, and 34 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched.
When looking at the bright side, the 25-year-old has been solid in terms of making batters swing and miss. That could be an indication that some improvement might be coming, but it has yet to result in success just yet.
One of the reasons for the struggles, even though he is striking out batters at a high clip, has been his walk rate. Currently, he is walking 4.7 batters per nine innings.
Furthermore, while Warren has been good against right-handed hitters, it’s the lefties that have given him trouble. Batters from that side of the plate are slashing .280/.382/.467, and 13 of his 15 walks this season have been to left-handed batters.
Not surprisingly with a high walk rate has been a struggle to pitch deep into games. The longest Warren has made it in a game is five innings, which has put a lot of extra work and pressure on the bullpen to pick up the slack behind him.
While options are limited internally to replace him, the Yankees have to consider trying to bring in another starting pitcher who might be a bit better.
With an ERA over 5.00 and an inability to pitch deep into games, Warren has been hurting this team quite a bit to begin the season.
If the struggles continue through May, New York will have to do something to try and improve the struggling back-end of the rotation led by the young right-hander.
