Joe Girardi thinks the Yankees should give Will Warren one more bullpen look before October arrives.
Warren, who started Sunday and went 4 1/3 innings in an 8-4 loss at the Arizona Diamondbacks, is expected to move to the bullpen for the postseason. His next scheduled turn would be Friday against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, but Girardi said he would prefer to see that assignment handled differently.
“You could have an opener [on Friday] and have [Warren] come out of the bullpen that way,” Girardi said on the YES Network.
“And then he would have to go short because you’re going to want him in the bullpen on Tuesday if that’s what you are. There’s a lot of things that you have to think about.”
Girardi has already made his case for Warren’s stuff playing up in relief. Earlier this month, he said Warren would have “better” stuff out of the pen.
“I believe if he’s strictly coming out of the bullpen, his fastball is going to tick up a little more, and it should make everything a little bit better, the change-up, the sweeper, the ride on the four-seamer,” Girardi said earlier this month.
The Yankees are trying to sort out the pitching picture as the regular season winds down. They enter a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium six games back in the AL East. Even if they sweep, they would still be two games behind with three to play.
The schedule does give them a chance to line up their top arms. Carlos Rodon and Max Fried are set to pitch in Tuesday’s doubleheader, followed by Gerrit Cole on Wednesday and Cam Schlittler on Thursday.
That setup would also give Schlittler four days of rest before the likely best-of-3 Wild Card series against Boston on Sept. 29 at Yankee Stadium.
Aaron Boone and the Yankees still have postseason roster calls to make, but the current expectation is that Warren, Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Weathers will all shift to the bullpen.
Schmidt already got a brief relief look on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, striking out two and allowing no runs in 2/3 of an inning during a 5-4 loss.
Weathers, meanwhile, has not pitched since Aug. 22 because of a forearm flexor issue, though he could return this week.
Girardi also pointed to the bigger bullpen picture and the need to keep those arms fresh.
“You want to make sure they’re rested because they’re going to play three days in a row. And then I think if guys in the rotation are going in the bullpen, I would want to get them at least one outing out of the bullpen before the series.”
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