Austin Wells' gesture tells you everything about Yankees' view of Will Warren

There is no commodity more precious in the modern game of baseball than an overflow of high-level pitching ... except maybe a slugging catcher who can also hold his own behind the dish. Luckily, the New York Yankees appear to have both of these things entering 2025.

Despite an oddly slow start that featured some statuesque plate appearances/a delayed opening, Yankees catcher Austin Wells appeared in his first spring training lineup on Wednesday afternoon, rebuking criticism in the process. He went 1-for-2 with a rocked two-run double the other way (against a lefty), calming fears about his preparedness.

Why did Wells appear in a game in February, though, after the team had previously stated he was going to wait until March? Simple: he asked for it, and specifically wanted to get a chance to work with Will Warren, who worked on himself plenty this offseason.

Warren's MLB career began with a 10.32 ERA in six games/five starts, lowlighted by a particularly difficult performance against the St. Louis Cardinals in the Bronx. Warren surrendered four earned runs and three walks in four frames against a stuck-in-the-mud Cards team last Aug. 31, unable to harness his sweeper or make his fastball deceptive enough to make his other offerings seem worthwhile.

Wednesday in Tampa, against those very same Cardinals? Warren spun brilliantly, and Wells wanted to see for himself behind the dish. That says everything about how the Yankees' starters currently view their top prospect, slotted in as the team's No. 7 starter, for the time being, behind Marcus Stroman.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells changed spring training schedule to catch Will Warren

Wells is wise enough to know that just because a pitcher isn't in the top five of an Opening Day rotation depth chart does not mean he won't have ample opportunity to contribute. Luis Gil went from "buried" to "fifth starter" to "Gerrit Cole replicant" to "Rookie of the Year" in a matter of six months last season.

Warren will certainly play a role, and coaxing him through camp/helping him click as he comes to terms with his own success is an extremely important job for Wells (and JC Escarra/Ben Rice, the likely backup contenders).

Any time someone cuts their offseason rest plans short just to take another look at you, you know you might be on to something good. The Yankees should be very thankful they were able to keep Warren out of any number of offseason transactions where rivals attempted to buy low.