Will Warren’s calm approach to Yankees’ fifth-starter battle

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Will Warren may say some variation of “one day at a time” until he is red in the face — or at least until the Yankees make a decision on who their fifth starter will be to begin the season. 

There is good reason for that. 

Last March, Warren was in the same position that he is now: fighting for the last spot in the Yankees rotation because of an injury to Gerrit Cole.

Except then, he was riding the roller coaster of emotions with each start he made, which may have ultimately backfired.

He put together a strong spring and still lost out to Luis Gil, remembering Saturday about being “pretty upset” when he got that news ahead of Opening Day. 

“I feel like last year, I kind of let that dwindle and that’s probably why I didn’t have as great of success as I would have liked to the whole year,” said Warren, who pitched to a 5.93 ERA in 23 starts at Triple-A and a 10.32 ERA in six games of spot duty with the Yankees. 

A year later, Warren is not taking the bait.

Unlike his friends and family, he insists he is not wondering if each passing start is inching him that much closer to breaking camp with the team. 

The 25-year-old right-hander knows well enough by now that there are factors beyond his reach that could determine whether he wins the fifth starter job, though he is doing just about everything in his control to push the issue. 

“Obviously a lot’s transpired over the last two weeks,” Warren said, referring to Cole undergoing Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil being diagnosed with a high-grade lat strain that will sideline him at least until June. 

“You can’t ride that roller coaster; it’s going to drive you crazy,” he added. “If you can stay neutral and put your best foot forward every time you take the mound, good things are going to happen.” 

The latest example came Saturday, when Warren looked strong again.

He mostly cruised into the fifth inning before his final line got spoiled in a 7-7 tie with the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park.

After building his pitch count up to 64 (including five pitches in the bullpen after he came out) while allowing three runs in four-plus innings — he gave up back-to-back singles to start the fifth and both came around to score after he left the game — Warren now has a 2.87 ERA across six games this spring. 

“I thought Will was good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Probably ran out of gas a little bit there at the end, not quite the good power and sink in that last inning that he was having. I loved how he was mixing his two-seam and four-seam today. I thought another good day for him overall.” 

With less than two weeks left in camp, the fifth starter battle is almost certainly down to Warren and veteran Carlos Carrasco, who is in camp on a minor league deal. 

The biggest factor that may be working against Warren’s case to make the team is the fact he has minor league options remaining. Carrasco, meanwhile, does not and has an opt-out in his deal that he could use if he is not added to the roster by a certain date. So if the Yankees are trying to maximize their starting depth in the organization — especially after already having lost some with injuries to Chase Hampton and JT Brubaker — they could do so by sending Warren to Triple-A and having Carrasco in the big league rotation to start the season. 

“You got to factor in everything,” Boone said. “The start of the season is always a little tricky with not being able to access the 40-man roster right away too [pitchers who are optioned to the minor leagues cannot be recalled for 15 days unless they are replacing an injured player]. So that goes into decisions around the bullpen too a little bit. On some level, you’re factoring all that in while obviously wanting the best. You got to win. But there are moving parts to all of it.” 

The reality is that Warren is going to be asked to help the Yankees at some point this season.

Whenever it does happen, he’s planning on being better prepared to handle it, both mentally and physically. 

“I can only control what happens when I go out there and take the mound,” Warren said. “I can control my mindset on and off the field and that’s why I’m trying to take it one day at a time, as I’ve said so many times before.”