Will Warren picked the right night to change the way he attacked a lineup.
Against a Cubs order stacked with left-handed bats, the Yankees right-hander leaned hard on his secondary pitches Friday at Wrigley Field, and the result was a 2-0 New York win. Warren threw a career-high 24 changeups, blanked Chicago over 6 2/3 innings, and scattered four hits without issuing a walk.
It was the longest scoreless outing of his career, and it came with seven strikeouts over 88 pitches. Warren picked up his eighth win, turning the page quickly after a rough one five days earlier, when he gave up six runs in three innings against Philadelphia - his shortest start of the season.
The game plan was clear from the start: stay away from the usual sinker-heavy look and use the changeup to bury left-handed hitters. The pitch produced weak contact and uncomfortable swings, and when the Cubs started adjusting, Warren climbed the ladder with his fastball to finish at-bats. He worked fast, filled the zone, and never let Chicago settle in.
“Coming in, I felt like I got away from it,” Warren said of his offspeed pitches. “Just going back to who I am and throwing nasty stuff up there, honestly. Throwing it for strikes and trying to get them swinging at stuff they might not necessarily want to.”
For Warren, the outing was as much about clearing his head as it was about pitch selection. He said the season had started with a simpler approach, but recent struggles had made every pitch feel heavier.
“At the beginning of the year, that was kind of how I approached every day,” Warren said. “Then you start struggling a little bit and hanging on every pitch, wondering what’s going to happen next.”
On Friday, he said, he let that go.
“Today I just went out there and whatever happens, happens. I’m going to have fun,” Warren said.
“I think I had fun today for the first time in a long time,” Warren said.
The Yankees got just enough offense behind him. Amed Rosario snapped Shota Imanaga’s perfect-game bid with a two-out homer in the fourth, a shot Statcast measured at 450 feet. Spencer Jones followed with a two-out homer of his own in the fifth, pushing New York in front 2-0.
Aaron Boone said the difference was Warren’s trust in the offspeed stuff.
“The secondary stuff was where it was at for him today,” Boone said. “He did such a good job spinning the ball, throwing the changeup, then using the fastball enough to keep them honest. That’s what he’s capable of when he’s on his game.”
From the other dugout, Craig Counsell came away with the same read.
“I think it was just a pitcher kind of at his peak, doing all the things that he is really good at,” Counsell said. “He was able to throw offspeed whenever he wanted.
His fastball was well-located in big counts. He pitched a good game.”
Ian Happ, who faced Warren, said the early-count offspeed strikes were the key.
“He threw his offspeed stuff for a strike early in counts and just did a good job of keeping us off-balance,” Happ said. “It must have been a big part of their game plan.”
The timing of the performance matters, too. Warren’s name has surfaced in trade chatter with Monday’s deadline approaching, and the Yankees have a crowded rotation picture with Carlos Rodon nearing a return and Clarke Schmidt working back from injury. Reporting this week indicated Warren or left-hander Ryan Weathers could be available, and the San Diego Padres are one possible fit as they look for young, controllable starters.
That creates a familiar fork in the road: keep the arm, or cash it in while the value is high. Warren is controllable and inexpensive, and the Yankees could also hold onto him and use him out of the bullpen in October if the rotation stays healthy.
For one night, though, he made the decision look a lot simpler.
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