Yankees Editorial: Adam Warren Deserves to Stay in Yankees Rotation

With Masahiro Tanaka on the way back to the rotation, people are starting to ask who will be left out of the starting rotation? Adam Warren is one of the pitchers who is fighting to keep his spot in the rotation. The other pitcher he is competing with is Chris Capuano.

Tuesday night Adam Warren made his case to stay in the rotation, by having his best performance as a starter against the Kansas City Royals. Warren went six and a third innings, giving up only two hits, and zero walks, in a 5-1 win for the New York Yankees.

A main reason Adam Warren might be going back to the bullpen when Tanaka returns is because he is such a great pitcher in the bullpen. If Warren went back to the bullpen he would become the seventh inning guy, and make that bullpen even better. If the Yankees took out Chris Capuano, at best he could be a long delivery or a lefty specialist.

Nobody wants to admit it, but money plays a huge factor in deciding the last spot in the rotation. The Yankees signed Chris Capuano for $5 million to be the fifth starter. Adam Warren had a very good chance to be back in the bullpen, but Capuano got hurt during spring training, and Warren took advantage of his opportunity.

Let me play devil’s advocate here on why Adam Warren should go back to the bullpen sooner. With Ivan Nova coming back sooner, and Tanaka about to come back to the Yankees, it might be best for Warren to go back to being in the bullpen sooner rather than later. That last spot in the rotation does belong to Nova, so when he is healthy, Capuano and Warren will both be out of the rotation. It does make sense for Warren then to go back to the bullpen, and reclaim that seventh inning role that he thrived in last year.

I believe if Adam Warren continues to out pitch Chris Capuano, he deserves to stay in the rotation longer, plain and simple.

What do you think Yankee fans? Let us know in the comments below.

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