Will Warren beginning to show signs of improving biggest 2025 flaw with Yankees

We thought we might see a new-and-improved Will Warren in 2026, and his stellar spring training performance had us believing that he could be the key to the New York Yankees' starting rotation's success. What we've seen is that, while the entire rotation has proven to be a strength, we are getting that supercharged version of Warren that we hoped for.

There are a lot of reasons, big and small, as to why Warren is thriving this season. The biggest, however, has to do with the soon-to-be 27-year-old's efficiency.

Last season, Warren made 33 starts but managed just 162 1/3 innings. That was an average of 4.9 innings per start. This year, the righty has made 12 starts and logged 64 1/3 innings, coming out to 5.34 frames per outing. Extrapolated over 33 starts, that puts him on pace for a much more robust 176 innings. And that's assuming he doesn't gain more length throughout the year.

We all know how a 2025 Warren start would go. Either he'd be smacked around and struggle to get out of the second inning, or he'd show off his strikeout stuff, but inefficiency would still leave him gassed after five innings.

Since mid-April, Warren has really taken off. He threw seven innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts on April 18 against the Kansas City Royals, and since that point, when his arm was finally fully built up, he's thrown at least six innings in five of his eight outings, and failed to reach the five-inning threshold just once.

Will Warren's newfound efficiency is huge for the Yankees on several fronts

Efficiency is the name of the game for Warren this year. He's cut his walk rate from 9.1% last year to 7% through his May 31 start against the Athletics. That's extra impressive given that ABS has made walk rates rise league-wide. At the same time, he's raised his strikeout rate from 24.1% to 25.8%.

Typically speaking, walks rise when strikeouts do, so seeing a suppression of bad outcomes combined with an improvement in ideal results is super encouraging. It explains why he's put together a top-25 performance in ERA at 3.22.

This isn't just random luck driving the results. Warren is throwing a lot more pitches in the strike zone, raising his zone percentage from a 21st percentile mark a year ago to a 55th percentile mark this season. Those offerings in the zone are also of higher quality than some of the meatballs he'd serve last season.

So, the increased efficiency is helping his performance, taking him from a borderline fifth starter to a guy who'd be a solid No. 2 on a lot of staffs around the league. He's locked in and going about his business like a professional, doing things like proactively going out to the bullpen to stay loose during New York's marathon third inning in the series finale against the Athletics.

Additionally, getting that extra length out of Warren will help save the Yankees' bullpen. Arguably the club's greatest weakness, not having to rely on the relief corps to log exorbitant innings every fifth day will result in more wins, less reliever burnout, and better performance relative to the bullpen's talent level.

That doesn't eliminate the need to add to the bullpen at the deadline, but it certainly helps mitigate the situation. In the context of the rest of the rotation's strength, the impact of Warren going deep into games is even further multiplied.

The 176 innings projected innings total for Warren is on the low side, given the groove that he's in now. Obviously, no one can predict injuries, but he has always been durable in the past. Now, he's durable, efficient, and effective, which is a true triple-threat that unlocks so much for the Yankees.

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