Will Warren Is Quietly a Fast-Rising Yankees Prospect

Will Warren has quietly, and quickly, emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in the New York Yankees organization. An eighth-round pick in the 2020 draft out of Southwestern Louisiana University, the 22-year-old right-hander made his professional debut this year, and by June he was pitching with Double-A Somerset. On the season, he had a 3.91 ERA and a 3.74 FIP with 125 strikeouts and 119 hits allowed in 129 innings.

His best two pitches have been added to his arsenal since college. Warren’s sweeper, which spins as high as 3,000 rpm, replaced the pedestrian slider he’d thrown as an amateur; his low-to-mid 90s sinker, which helped produce a 53% ground ball rate, was developed just this past season. His physique has transformed, as well. The 6-foot-2 hurler now packs close to 200 pounds on his once-lean frame, giving him a more-projectable starter’s build.

Warren discussed his developmental strides late in the 2022 season.

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David Laurila: Let’s start with your M.O. on the mound. How do you get guys out?

Will Warren: “Basically attacking the zone, knowing that the guys behind me are going to make plays. As a sinkerball guy, I’m probably going to get a lot more ground balls than strikeouts, so I rely a lot on my defense to get people out.”

Laurila: I understand that you also have a pretty good slider.

Warren: “Yes. Analytics makes it easier to look at a pitch and say, ‘Oh, I can do this, I can manipulate it this way.’ When I got drafted by the Yankees, we [developed] the slider. We tinkered with some grips, and it ended up being what it is now.”

Laurila: Is it the Yankees whirly?

Warren: “It’s the sweeper, yes. Off the top of my head, I’m going say I get like 16–18 inches of sweep. I can get it bigger, but I think that’s what it is on average. The velocity is 84–87 [mph].”

Laurila: Clarke Schmidt told me earlier this year that his hard sweeper gets around 10 inches. Other guys throw it with less velocity and get around 20 inches.

Warren: “Yeah. Some guys get more sweep if they’re 82–83, so it kind of just depends. I can’t say that I’ve got it consistent enough to where I can be like, ‘All right, I’m going to throw this one hard and it will be sharper without as much sweep, or I can go slower.’ It’s kind of just all over right now.”

Laurila: When did you start learning the sweeper?

Warren: “Back in instructs. I had thrown a slider before, but it wasn’t very good, so we banged that one and started trying to get something that works. We were messing around with grips and I finally got one. I would say it’s probably my best pitch now. I can throw it for strike when I want to, but ultimately, I want it to be a strikeout pitch.”

Laurila: Do you get any depth with it, or just sweep?

Warren: “I actually get some ride action to it. That’s what makes it unique, I guess. I have the sweep, but it’s not down. Guys usually swing under it.”

Laurila: What about your sinker?

Warren: “It’s an offset one-seamer. I tried to learn the two-seam, and it just didn’t have any depth to it. It just kind of ran — it was one of those runners — so I played around with grips again until I found something. This one was like, ‘Oh, nine inches vertical; we’ll go with this one.’ It also gets anywhere from 15 to 17 arm-side.”

Laurila: Where did you learn the one-seam?

Warren: “In [High-A] Hudson Valley, earlier this year. I was throwing the two-seamer, and we were trying to get it better as the season went on. Again, we were just trying out some different stuff, like, ‘Hey, this works for some people, and this works for some people.’ I found one where I’m off the side of the ball. Instead of being on the two seams, I’m both fingers on a seam. One is the right seam, and the other is on the left seam. I’ve showed it some people and they’re like, ‘I have no clue how you throw that.’ But it’s what works for me.”

Laurila: Do you throw anything besides the offset one-seamer and the sweeper?

Warren: “I do. I also have a four-seamer, a cutter, a changeup, and a curveball. I try to keep a steady mix going with anything and everything, but the slider and the one-seamer definitely favor me against right-handed hitters. They’re my best pitches.”

Laurila: You’ve come a long way in a short time thanks to those pitches. Are you surprised that you’re in Double-A right now?

Warren: “For sure. My goal was to be in Hudson Valley and put together a solid first season, to have some ground to work on. When I got called up to Double-A, I was shocked. I definitely didn’t think that I would be there that fast. I mean, I’m just trying to learn, and I have learned a lot this season, from talking to older guys, different guys, and from the ups and downs of a season. I need to keep building on all this.”