A few weeks ago, Will Warren seemed like a fine No. 5 starter for a Yankees team to which he could provide real value from the end of March through September.
But with just about every outing these days, he is looking more and more like a playoff pitcher for a club that could use another.
At a time of the season when arms typically tire, Warren is finding another gear that he displayed again in Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over the Rockies in The Bronx.
For six strong, one-run innings, Warren was in control during a fifth straight outing in which he did not let up more than two earned runs.
Over his past three appearances — two starts and 2 ¹/₃ hitless, scoreless innings in relief of a building-up Max Fried on Friday in San Diego — he has surrendered two earned runs in 15 ¹/₃ innings, shrinking his ERA from 4.39 to 4.05.
Barring injury, Warren probably cannot pitch himself into a postseason start, but he seems to be establishing that he will play a role in some way for a club that is auditioning many for bullpen spots.
“He can serve a lot of roles potentially [in October],” manager Aaron Boone said of a righty who might have been previously seen as an innings-eater and now may be showing something more. “He’s been incredibly durable. But he’s got weapons.”
For the Yankees, the stuff is as encouraging as the results.
Warren does not have the velocity of Cam Schlittler or the overwhelming nastiness of Gerrit Cole or the arsenal of Fried or the slider of Carlos Rodón. But he does have a healthy mix of pitches with command and velocity increasing and a changeup that is correspondingly playing up.
Yet again his velocity escalated, his four-seamer nearly a full tick up from his season average and buzzing in at 94.6 mph. He has thrown 35 pitches all season of at least 96 mph; eight of those came Wednesday, when he struck out eight, walked two and let up four hits.
“It’s a little posture, just staying taller. I think it keeps me more in line,” Warren said in explaining how he has reached back for more recently. “Therefore, can fill the zone up and a little tick in velo.”
With some extra heat, he is showing a bit more fire, too.
Warren’s only bit of trouble arrived in the fifth, when he allowed three of his four hits and only run, a Connor Norby home run to left.
The Rockies followed that blast with knocks from Zac Veen and Jake McCarthy to put runners on the corners with one out, a moment in which each pitch from Warren could change the game and be his last.
But a 27-year-old who has had issues escaping jams found the exact pitch he needed: a sinker that Cole Carrigg smacked into the ground directly to first base.
Luis García Jr. fielded and threw strong to George Lombard Jr., who fired back at Warren who both beat Carrigg to the base and showed off some nifty footwork in tagging the base for the double play and in the ensuing celebration.
Normally mild-mannered, Warren pumped his fist and strutted his way around the infield dirt before returning to the dugout.
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“I was joking with the guys,” Warren said. “I was like, ‘Sometimes you got to grind for those double plays.’”
Clarke Schmidt made his fourth rehab appearance with Double-A Somerset, this one coming on two days’ rest as he tries to come back from Tommy John as a reliever for the rest of the year.
The right-hander struck out a pair in a scoreless, 12-pitch inning.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Yankees held a moment of silence for Rollie Sheldon, the right-hander and Connecticut native who died last week after winning a pair of World Series with them in 1961 and 1962.
