Yankees News: Adam Warren Named Fifth Starter

The most intruguing position battle this Spring on the New York Yankees roster was the fifth starting pitcher spot in the rotation. The race included three top names, Adam Warren, Esmil Rogers, and Bryan Mitchell. This afternoon all the questions were answered as Yankees manager Joe Girardi named Warren the fifth starter to replace injured Chris Capuano (who was replacing injured Ivan Nova).

As of the last week or so the race was down to Warren and Rogers, but with Rogers’ recent struggles, Warren was out of sight on the track. Warren has had an exceptional Spring posting a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings. He paired that with 11 strikeouts, five runs/earned runs, and three of those runs coming from homers.

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The rest of the rotation is set. Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, and now Adam Warren. This is a fairly young rotation, with a lot of expectations being put on them, not only by fans but themselves. It seems all of them have some type of reason to prove someone wrong. Tanaka’s injury, CC’s injury (and age), Pineda’s road to prove he can be the Yanks’ future, Eovaldi who is looking for a resurgance in his career, and a very young Warren who has been looking to prove he can be a starter for quite some time now.

The UNC grad was arguably the Yankees biggest anchor in their mid-game bullpen pitchers last season. He posted a 2.97 ERA in 78.2 innings for the 2014 campaign. His name was also thrown around numerous times during 2014 when the Yanks were struggling with injuries throughout their rotation.

With injuries coming in large amounts like they have for the team in the last couple of years, you can say almost any back up or bullpen player has a chance to start. This is the casualty that comes with having an older team, but Warren luckily is ‘any’ player. He has proven himself to at least get a chance (even if he’s young), and make a statement to start the season.

Though this starting position for Warren is only temporary until Capuano or Nova comes back, he can still prove he has what it takes to start again in the future. His spot in the bullpen will easily be kept safe with the multiple bullpen moves the team made this off-season.

Whether you believe in him or not, Adam Warren will round off the big five in the Bronx. Do you think he can handle this task and prove himself? Or will the Yankees be finding themselves counting down the days till the return of Capuano or Nova?

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