Yankees Prospect Update: Clayton Beeter injured, Will Warren falling apart

As all of the attention centers around the New York Yankees' major league pitching staff and its league-leading ERA, dialed-in fans have kept an eye on the farm system, knowing reinforcements will be needed as the season progresses.

The next guys up — Clayton Beeter and Will Warren — looked well on their way to providing support during the second half of 2024 (and potentially the playoffs, depending on how their debuts went). Chase Hampton was supposed to form a trio with those two, but he's been out with a shoulder (or elbow?) injury since spring training.

Unfortunately, both of their situations took a turn for the worse recently, and Yankees fans won't be thrilled with these updates from Tuesday.

Let's start with the more concerning of the two. Manager Aaron Boone informed the media before the team's game against the Mariners that Beeter was placed on the injured list with a shoulder issue, which has gradually become more concerning than anything elbow-related.

Beeter's been dominating so far this season, so his momentum has been abruptly halted and it's unknown when he'll return to action. He'll be shut down for at least a week.

Yankees Prospect Update: Clayton Beeter injured, Will Warren falling apart

OK, and now for the other delivery of bad news from a performance standpoint. Like Beeter, Warren was once upon a time dominating at Triple-A Scranton. In fact, it seemed as if his promotion to MLB wasn't as far off as many initially believed.

But then came his last three starts. The month of May has not been kind to the right-hander, who has allowed an unthinkable 23 earned runs over his last 14 innings pitched. Prior to that, he allowed just 12 earned runs in his first six starts (totaling 27 1/3 innings).

At the time of Gerrit Cole's injury during spring training, Warren was believed to be among the candidates for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, which eventually went to Luis Gil, and rightfully so. But it appears the 24-year-old still has plenty of work to do.

In Warren's defense, his last three opponents — Syracuse, Rochester and Worcester — definitely have some MLB talent lurking in their lineups. But 23 earned runs is absolutely unacceptable, regardless of the competition.

The Yankees better hope their big-league staff holds up with its health and production because there's no first line of defense at the moment.