Yankees' top pitching prospect cracking Hot Sheet ends eternal wait for positive trend

In mid-March, the New York Yankees were forced to choose between two hotshot prospects to fill Gerrit Cole's innings: Luis Gil, who'd been waylaid by injury after a successful 2021 debut (and 2022 cameo), and Will Warren, the most MLB-ready pitching prospect in their system.

Or so we all thought.

Warren's spring was successful (3-1, 3.52 ERA), but Gil's was undeniable. Despite a three-start stretch where he carried a 14.90 ERA in recent weeks, which knocked him off the All-Star team, the 26-year-old right-hander has buzzed electrically in the big leagues. Warren may have a bright future, but it's impossible to argue against Gil being the right fit for the here and now. Without his contributions to date, the Yankees would be nowhere near the Wild Card race they're currently leading.

Warren? For whatever reason, his sweeper-reliant right arm didn't take the demotion quite so well. On the positive side, he's struck out 96 men in 80 innings flat, translating his whiff collecting to the upper levels of the minors. Unfortunately, a 2.33 ERA in April gave way to a 15.88 mark in four May starts (31 hits in 17 total innings), sticking Warren firmly into the Land of Confusion.

Slowly but surely, from that point forward, he began to work his way back. June was unremarkable, but unremarkable is good when you've just been blindsided by disaster. July? Well, that month started off on a strong foot; he struck out 11 in six innings, allowing just two hits and making Baseball America's weekly Hot Sheet, a roundup of the game's best performing top prospects.

For your own well-being, please ignore Andres Chaparro ranking third.

Yankees' Will Warren finally earns recognition on Baseball America Hot Sheet

Counter to the hype train: It was just one start.

Counter to the counter to the hype train: It's something! Finally! Something!

Warren's time likely won't come this season; Clarke Schmidt is theoretically slated to return, and the Yankees would be better served by trading for a reliable depth option at the midsummer deadline rather than banking on another prospect arriving just in time (especially after such a scattered first half).

Still, a positive trend line is still a positive trend line, no matter how short it is and how low it started.