Will Warren's low strikeout numbers this spring spark concerns

Will Warren made his MLB debut for the New York Yankees during the 2024 season. He pitched in a few games, but that was nothing compared to what he was asked to do last season. 

With injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, Warren made the Opening Day roster and went on to make 33 starts, compiling a 9-8 record with a 4.44 ERA and 171 strikeouts on 162.1 innings of work. 

He will likely have a similar workload this season, as Cole will still be recovering from Tommy John surgery to start the year. The Bronx Bombers will also be without Carlos Rodon, who is recovering from an elbow procedure that removed loose bodies and shaved down a bone spur. 

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Will Warren's low strikeout numbers this spring spark concerns

Warren will be asked to hold things down until Cole and Rodon can return. He won't work as the team's ace, that will be for Opening Day starter Max Fried, but Warren will still play a big role. 

He has appeared in five games so far this spring, striking out 16, walking three, and holding together a 1.77 ERA across 20.1 innings of work. While his ERA is elite, Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer is questioning the low strikeout total. 

"Warren is slated to be the Yankees' No. 3 starter until Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole are back, so he's looking the part. Yet even if he's throwing strikes, he's not exactly blowing hitters away, given that he's only fanned 16 of the 76 he's faced. Small gains in fastball velocity and whiff rate suggest he should be doing better, and his experiments with his mound placement and PitchCom are notable. Still, there isn't quite enough here to read into a full-on ace evolution."

It's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why his strikeout numbers aren't where they should be. He has gotten an uptick on his fastball and has shifted over to the third-base side of the rubber when pitching. 

As of now, it looks like Warren will have to focus on getting ground ball outs and weak contact, instead of blowing it by hitters, which is hard to make a living on when MLB hitters are so elite at finding barrels.

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