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Yankees News: Adam Warren In Lead for the Fifth Spot in Rotation

By Michael Cambria

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Well New York Yankees fans, it appears as if the decision on the fifth and final starter in the teams rotation is nearing it’s end.

"“Right now if we had to make a decision today, we all know what the decision would be,’’ GM Brian Cashman told George King III of the New York Post before the Yankees lost 7-2 to the Mets at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “There is a Secretariat in the race. Right now [Adam] Warren has a big lead in this. We don’t have to make that decision today. When you are running the race someone is ahead of the field, but it can change drastically. As of right now if we had to make a call today, it would be Warren.’’"

Entering spring training, the 27-year-old Adam Warren appeared to be locked into an every-day bullpen role after making 69 relief appearances in the 2014 season for a combined 3-6 record with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.106 WHIP.

The fifth slot in the Yankees starting rotation was left wide-open when veteran pitcher Chris Capuano suffered a strained quadricep against the Boston Red Sox on March 11 during  a Spring Training exhibition game that’s landed the hurler on the disabled list to start the season.

The notable pitchers fighting to fill the void in the rotation were Chase Whitley, Esmil Rogers, Bryan Mitchell, Luis Severino (before he was sent down to the minors), and of course, the emerging front runner, Adam Warren.

Because of Warren’s aforementioned bullpen experience and because of Esmil Rogers’ hot start to spring training, Rogers entered Tuesday night’s start against the Detroit Tigers as the apparent front runner. However, as fellow writer Antonio Mendes noted,Rogers took a back seat to Warren as he was smacked around, giving up five runs (one earned) on five hits in three innings pitched.

Warren, who will face off against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, Fl. on Thursday afternoon, will be making his team leading fifth spring training start, and probably his most important one to date.

Thus far, Warren has looked sharp in his first four Grapefruit League starts, going 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA while striking out six and walking none through 13 innings of work. One more quality outing and the Birmingham, Alabama native might very well find himself starting against the Boston Red Sox during the Yankees second series of the season.

What do you think Yankees fans? Does Adam Warren deserve to be the teams fifth start? Let us know in the comments below.

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