There was plenty of hard contact. There was ample traffic on the bases.
No, this wasn’t Will Warren’s most impressive outing. It was, however, one of his grittiest.
The young right-hander did well to fight his way through 5 ¹/₃ innings of two-run ball. It was the quiet Yankees bats that doomed them in a series-closing, 4-1 loss to the Cubs Sunday afternoon.
“I told him as much coming out. That’s a day where they had a lot of good at-bats, he didn’t necessarily have his best command,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But he kind of navigated it. That’s what the good ones do. When they’re not at their best, they’re still able to find a way.”
The outing marked the 15th time in 20 starts that Warren has allowed three earned runs or fewer. He wasn’t in the rotation plans, before major injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil.
But the righty has impressed, pitching to a 4.63 ERA that is bloated due to a few blowup outings.
There was the potential for that against the explosive Cubs. Leadoff man Michael Busch took Warren deep. He walked Kyle Tucker and allowed a Seiya Suzuki single.
The Cubs were set up, except Warren got out of the inning unscathed. He did the same in the fourth, when the first two Cubs reached.
He was lifted with one out in the sixth, only for reliever Ian Hamilton to serve up a go-ahead two-run homer to Dansby Swanson.
“I didn’t think my stuff was as sharp today as it has been,” said Warren, who allowed six hits, walked three and struck out one. “But battle through it, let the defense work behind me. Just try to grit through as long as I can.
“I would say, just bearing down. To be able to get through 5 ¹/₃, or whatever it was, against a team like that when I don’t have my best stuff is positive.”
The 26-year-old Warren finds himself as a key part of the rotation, even with Gil expected to return shortly.
Clarke Schmidt was recently lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Cole won’t be back this year.
While the Yankees could look to add a starter, Warren has outpitched veteran Marcus Stroman.
He’s set to fly by his previous high of innings pitched (130 ¹/₃ last year), already logging 95 ¹/₃.
“I feel good. I think we have a lot of older guys in this clubhouse, [Carlos] Rodón, Max [Fried], Gerrit’s around, guys like that,” Warren said. “So I can lean on them, learn a few things, how to manage workloads and stuff like that. Because obviously I’ve never done this amount of innings and starts in a year. But I’m feeling good. I think they’ve helped me out.”
