Yankees Forced to Rely on a Cookie and a Rookie for Pitching Help
The 2025 MLB season is less than a week away, and the New York Yankees are going into it like a three-legged table, very unstable. The Yankees started the spring assembling arguably their best starting pitching staff in years. The dream ended quickly with Gerrit Cole out for the season due to Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil now reported as missing at least the first three months with a strained lat. Now, Clarke Schmidt is under evaluation, and reports lean towards him being placed on the IL to start the year with shoulder fatigue. This means that 60% of their starting five are not going to be present as of now.
This news would appear to rule out the Yankees as a contender for the American League Championship. However, two pitchers that have impressed in Spring Training, Carlos Carrasco, nicknamed “Cookie,” and Will Warren, have emerged as the keys to holding down the fort. At one time, both were afterthoughts, but now they have been elevated to essential pieces. The goal will be to bridge the gap to lead the Yankees to the point where they can assess their actual roster strength.
Cookie Carrasco was obtained on a minor-league contract. He is now on the Yankees’ roster on the day he would have opted out. He is a former top prospect from Venezuela. He has had stops and starts but has proven resilient. A hurler who is not afraid to hit batters to get his point across, he has played for four teams previously. Carlos came back from Leukemia to earn the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2019, showing what a tough cookie he is. This is the second year in a row that he has signed a minor league deal. He did not impress record or ERA-wise last year however, he did accumulate a lot of strikeouts, and he knows how to pitch. A healthy Carrasco will hold his own and give the staff stability.
Will Warren was a highly touted prospect who appeared at the end of the 2024 season but did not show much of the promise that was predicted of him. The league found the pitches of the Brandon, Mississippi-born right-hander to their liking, going deep often to the tune of a 10.32 ERA in nearly 23 innings. A lot changed in Spring Training as Warren’s stuff showed marked improvement and his command of his pitches, which earned him a 4.19 ERA during the spring. This eighth-round pick is not one to be easily discouraged, and he will be called upon to give solid outings this time out and cannot do any worse than he did in 2024.
The Yankees' starting pitching decisions are designed to keep afloat in the standings and eat a lot of effective innings. This will be needed to avoid blowing out a deep and talented bullpen. The Yankees’ strength lies currently in that reinforced pen. Cookie and Will represent the in-house solution. At least until it proves that an outside solution is needed sooner than later. If they can impress in the fourth and fifth spots while the top three of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Marcus Stroman pitch to their abilities, the Yankees can try to make that move at the deadline that will bring them back into the championship contender conversation.
