FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a perfect world, Will Warren would have shown the Yankees what he’s made of without running away from Sunday’s first inning.
But that’s the position Warren found himself in, and the young right-hander made a strong impression anyway as he continued to make a case to fill Gerrit Cole’s spot in the rotation to begin the season.
In what was likely his penultimate start of the spring, Warren was hit in the back in the first inning against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park.
He faced seven batters and only got one out, and his defense was useless with two fielding errors, but he also allowed some big contact.
Aaron Boone pulled Warren with an increased pitch count, giving the Red Sox a 5-0 lead, but spring training rules allowed the 24-year-old Warren to return for the second inning when he returned to work. was.
Apparently unfazed by the rough first inning, Warren responded by retiring eight of the next 10 batters he faced, making the most of the situation.
“There is definitely a conflict. [in the first inning]But he showed us who he was,” Boone said. “I thought he was pretty sharp the rest of the way. Unfettered. In fact, it’s times like this that you learn a little bit more about a guy, even more. I think he’s really good. He’s really good right now. I think it’s the state of things.”
Warren knew what was at stake in this starting role — the first since the Yankees diagnosed Cole with an elbow problem that would keep him sidelined until at least the end of May. , the Red Sox may have ambushed him in the bottom of the first inning and panicked. Two errors behind him.
Instead, he found a way to settle into the game, exuding the quiet confidence that the Yankees love, racking up his pitch count to 68 while racking up five strikeouts.
“I think that’s going to be an element of proving that I belong there,” Warren said. The most damaging mistake was Trevor Story’s hanging slider for a three-run home run. “When you get punched in the mouth, how do you bounce back?” In my opinion, how do you react to how bad the first inning was and what the next couple is going to be? At the end of the day, you have to keep your team in the game. That’s what the next couple of innings portrayed. ”
Since the start of camp, multiple people close to the team have said they believe Warren is ready to pitch in the big leagues.
That idea hasn’t lost any traction throughout the spring, and it’s only gotten more important now that the Yankees have actually earned a spot in the rotation.
Lewis Gill, Cody Poteet, Luke Weaver and Clayton Beater (who pitched behind Warren on Sunday, giving up three runs in four innings) are also competing for the fifth starting pitcher spot.
But the way Boone talked about Warren before and after Sunday’s game was reminiscent of how Boone often talked about Anthony Volpe around this time last year, when the shortstop was trying to make the team.
“I’m exaggerating, but when you meet a young player who may not have reached that stage yet, you can look at it in many different ways, but even without watching a game, you’re like, “That’s a major leaguer.” ”’ Coach Boone said before the game. “I have some kind of feelings for Will. … And now seeing how he’s going about things, I can see that he has an edge and he’s competitive. Masu.”
On Saturday, general manager Brian Cashman noted that Warren doesn’t get overwhelmed or intimidated by anything and handles situations that can get his heart rate up.
Sunday was Warren’s first time pitching against the Red Sox, albeit in a Grapefruit League game, and provided another example of how he responded when things got chaotic in the first inning.
“I told him, that’s going to be one of the first Red Sox games I’ll always remember,” Boone said. “I think he’s going to be really good. I think he’s going to have a career in this fight. That’s going to be one of the things he can share with people: ‘Yeah, I went down in Jet Blue and took my lumps off. is” [Park] in spring. ‘I liked his reaction to that. Ultimately, he’s done a lot of good work and we’ll continue to build from here. ”
