Just like a season ago, the Yankees are leaning on their young arms to overcome injuries to the top of their rotation.
Gerrit Cole (Tommy John) and Carlos Rodon (elbow) will miss the start of the 2026 season, and New York is hoping youngster Will Warren can take that next step to becoming a fixture in the rotation and get them off to a strong start this year.
Warren, who will turn 27 in June, is likely to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster after making 33 starts in his rookie year. There were a lot of ups and downs for Warren in 2025. An occasional blow-up start — he allowed five-plus earned runs in five starts — marred his otherwise strong campaign. He didn’t land on the IL and struck out 171 batters — the most by a rookie last season.
Still, the Yankees hope the right-hander can be even better this season.
“Hopefully, there’s even more in there. He was a big reason why we were able to have success [in 2025],” manager Aaron Boone said after Saturday’s workouts. “When you have starting pitchers making all of his starts, there’s value in that. Frankly, a lot of good starts. Much talked about a couple of rough ones, but he showed the ability to always bounce back….there is so much that he learned, that he gained.”
“Taking the ball every five days is a huge thing,” Warren said of his 2025 season after his live BP on Saturday. “The ability to be available is a big part of playing in the big leagues, so I think that’s a successful season. There’s some stuff you can clean up…but going into this year, it’s taking that extra step.”
Warren said he started throwing again a month after the season ended, and while he admitted he had to adjust to the long season with how he ramps back up, his offseason routine has largely remained unchanged.
He had two live BP sessions on Saturday. In his first run, he struck out Paul Goldschmidt swinging on five pitches, punching the former NL MVP on a high fastball. He allowed a single to Aaron Judge on a 2-1 pitch before Amed Rosario hit a groundball to where the shortstop would be.
In his second inning of work, Warren struck out Judge on six pitches after a 3-2 high fastball way out of the zone to get the reigning MVP swinging. He then fanned Jose Caballero after an eight-pitch battle on a 3-2 off-speed pitch running away from Caballero.
“[Warren] did a good job of learning from his experience and he’s a confident dude,” Boone said. “He wants to be one of the good ones; that’s where his focus is. He’s a really valuable part of our team.”
Warren mentioned a few times about eventually becoming one of the best in the league. When he was asked how he gets to that point, Warren reiterated that it’s about posting up every five days, but also to give your team a chance, even when you don’t have your best stuff.
“There were some games last year where I got ran out of there in the third, fourth inning because it wasn’t my day,” Warren explained. “You see those guys on a day where they don’t have their best stuff, they go into the fifth or sixth and keeping us in the game. That makes a difference…that’s the difference.”
For Boone, he preaches to Warren and other younger pitchers to slow the game down and to keep their emotions in check.
“As a starting pitcher…it’s really hard to be hair-on-fire out there, emotional. As a starting pitcher, you have to find that edge,” he said. “A lot of things are going to happen through the course of a game and you can’t get emotional and ride that roller coaster. It’s a microcosm of the season…that’s critical for a starting pitcher to be able to navigate the game and things that come up.
“How do you not let that stuff snowball and he’s gotten better at that and learning to work through those things.”
To Warren, that adjustment going into 2026 is about confidence and knowing that his stuff plays in the big leagues. He showed that for much of last season and flashed that in his live BP on Saturday.
“I learned last year on the days that I didn’t have my good stuff, how did I end up going five and giving up just two runs? It’s knowing you belong, trusting your stuff and not overdoing it,” Warren said. “Just staying even keel, maintaining your focus and going out there and taking control of the game.
“A guy like Judge, you can get him 0-2, you have to find a way to punch this guy out without giving him something over the plate. That’s something I learned last year with 33 starts. You don’t always have to punch someone out. It’s about going deep in the game, that comes with getting soft contact and avoiding the big inning.”
Until Cole and Rodon return, Warren will be part of a rotation that includes Max Fried, Luis Gil, Ryan Weathers and Cam Schlittler. What happens when the two All-Star hurlers return is anyone’s guess, but Warren believes he’s ready to show that he belongs.
“For me, a personal goal, I want to be a starting pitcher in the big leagues, but I want to be Gerrit Cole in 10 years or Carlos Rodon,” Warren said. “It’s about taking that next step to being one of the best in the league.”
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