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Yankees prospect Will Warren picking up from last season’s success

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Yankees Somerset Patriots
Somerset Pitcher Will Warren
Photo courtesy of Somerset Patriots

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — When Luis Severino was on the mound for his rehab start in Somerset, Patriots’ pitcher Will Warren was taking in what the former Yankees ace was doing. 

Warren is hoping to one day be in a position to make an impact on the mound at Yankees Stadium himself, but for now, he’ll take the success he’s been seeing in Double-A this season. The 23-year-old righty has three wins and a 2.45 ERA through six starts this season with 39 strikeouts in 29.1 innings for the Patriots and has quickly risen through the ranks of the Yanks’ prospect pool. 

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Warren made a name for himself last season when he made the jump from High-A Hudson Valley to Double-A after just eight starts. He finished 2022 with a 7-6 record and a 4.02 ERA after seeming to lose steam in the second half of the season, which makes sense since it was his first extended campaign.

“It was a big jump. I mean I learned a lot,” Warren told amNewYork on Tuesday before the Patriots hosted the Reading Fightin’ Phils. “The Yankees, they just have an outstanding minor league system where they just teach us all this different stuff. What can we use,  what are our strengths, and how can we use those to give ourselves success out there.

“I think that’s the biggest thing for me is I learned a lot about myself and what makes me good. Just trusting that every time I go out there.”

Warren showed promise earlier this year during spring training when his fastball was reaching 97-98 mph. The righty added a cutter to his arsenal at the end of last season that has helped him get better against left-handed hitters, which was something he wanted to work on during the offseason.

So far this season Warren has struck out lefty batters 20 times, but their hitting line against him has been .283/.377/.321, so Warren knows work needs to be done and calls the process of learning the pitch “a lot of trial and error.” 

“Going into this offseason, we were really ‘let’s hammer down on that if we can get that, you know, I think this will help you out against lefties. And so, really just working on that throughout the entire offseason,” Warren explained. “Coming into spring training and having that, you know, having those guys in Tampa saying yeah, this has really come a long way. Yeah, that just gives you confidence going out there to throw it.”

The success that Warren has had this year has him ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Yankees’ No. 7 prospect and the second-highest-ranked pitching prospect in the organization. If he continues on the current path of success that he has had, Warren could on his way to the Bronx soon enough. 

Injuries to the Yankees’ pitching staff have put a greater focus on finding some solution to their issues, and the success of other young starting pitchers around the league has opened up the possibility that the team could dip deeper into their farm system. 

There have been a pair of players that have made the jump from Double-A to the big leagues this season. Eury Perez in Miami and Seattle’s Bryce Miller both made their MLB debuts this season without pitching in Triple-A, and Oakland pitcher Mason Miller appeared in just five Triple-A innings before getting to the majors. 

Warred said that the fact those guys had made the jump so quickly gave him a little extra motivation.

“I think Jasson (Dominguez) was telling me that (Eury Perez), he played with him in the Futures Game,” Warren said. “And he’s like, ‘he’s nasty. Like, that’s awesome.’ So we were watching those videos and that’s our goal. That’s what we all want to shoot for. And so it’s cool to see that happen to other guys.”

For more Yankees coverage, visit amNY Sports 

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