TAMPA — It had been obvious for almost a week, but on Sunday it became official.
Will Warren will be on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, Aaron Boone informed him on Sunday morning, and open the season as the No. 4 starter.
“Very excited, it feels good,” Warren said at Steinbrenner Field. “I came into camp with that as the goal. To hear it from Booney’s mouth was super exciting.”
The door opened for Warren to make the rotation with injuries to Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) and Luis Gil (lat strain), plus Clarke Schmidt being slowed by shoulder fatigue and not ready to start the season on time.
Warren then did the rest, putting together a strong spring (even after getting hit around in his outing against the Orioles on Wednesday) in which he posted a 4.19 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings.
“Excited about him and his future,” Boone said. “Like the strides he’s made. Last year, he flashed it all. We saw glimpses of it. Took his lumps too. I think he’s improved over the winter, has improved this spring and he’s earned this opportunity.”
The 25-year-old Warren made his MLB debut last season and was roughed up in six games with a 10.32 ERA.
But he tried to use that to his advantage this offseason by refining his changeup to better handle lefties and developing more of an attacking mentality on the mound.
“Unfortunately we lost Gerrit and Luis for right now, so the opportunity arose,” Warren said. “But coming in, aside from that, I definitely had my mind set on trying to make the team in any shape or form. So it’s exciting to get there now.”
Carlos Rodón, Max Fried and Marcus Stroman will pitch in the opening series against the Brewers before Warren faces the Diamondbacks on April 1.
Carlos Carrasco will then slot in somewhere over the next few games, depending on how the Yankees use two early off-days to arrange the rotation.
Fried put the finishing touches on his inaugural spring as a Yankee on Sunday, building up to 78 pitches across 5 ¹/₃ innings against the Rays.
“A lot of new, a lot of firsts,” Fried said of his camp. “My main goal was to come in, get to know everyone, feel comfortable and I feel like I’ve been able to do that going into [the season].”
Austin Wells crushed his team-leading sixth home run of the season in the 3-3 tie with the Rays while Anthony Volpe drilled his fourth.
