4-6-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Hoping to avoid the sweep today, the Pirates will face rookie righty and Yankees 5th ranked prospect, Will Warren.
An alumnus of Jackson Prepatory School in Flowood, MS – the same school which produced Pirates 2024 1st round pick, Konnor Griffin – Warren was selected by the Yankees in the 8th round of the 2021 draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University.
He had a solid first two professional seasons in the minors with a 3.63 ERA through 258 innings pitched across three levels of minor league ball.
After earning a non-roster invite to spring training, Warren debuted with the Yankees on July 30, 2024 despite struggling with a 6.11 ERA over 20 games in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
His struggles continued in New York, scuffling to a 10.32 ERA through 22.2 innings.
That said, Warren does have some good stuff and can miss bats with the best of them.
He’s had above average strikeout rates at every level of the minors with a 26% K rate though walks have been troublesome with an 8.9% rate in that time.
Warren has a 5-pitch mix sitting in the low-90s with his 4-seam and sinker, mid-80s on his changeup and low-80s on the curve and sweeper.
Despite the low velocity on the fastball, it was a very effective pitch for him in a small sample last season with opposing batters hitting just .074 against the 4-seamer and resulted in 11 of his 29 strikeouts.
In his first start this season, he went 5 innings allowing 2 runs off 1 hit (a home run) with 4 strikeouts but also 4 walks.
He’s prone to wildness with his nearly sidearm delivery often flying open and pulling hard to either side of the plate. If certain pitches aren’t working for him or locating well, he will be forced to shift to a more limited arsenal and that would put the advantage on the hitters.
With the way these games have been going, they’ll need any advantage they can get.
Steel City Pirates 