Yankees' Will Warren inching closer to a spot in the starting rotation

TAMPA, Fla. — The two Yankee prospects creating the most buzz among rival scouts this spring training were on the field Monday afternoon against the Tigers.

Nineteen-year-old George Lombard Jr., who will not break camp with the club, started at short (and is ticketed to start the season in the minors, most likely with High-A Hudson Valley).

The other?

He could be in the rotation when Grapefruit League action ends.

That would be Will Warren, a 25-year-old righthander who is among the club’s top pitching prospects and who mostly struggled late last season in his big-league debut.

But by all accounts, Warren, who posted a 10.32 ERA last year in six outings (five starts), is a different pitcher now.

“He’s throwing the [expletive] out of the ball,” said one rival American League talent evaluator assigned to the Yankees who saw Warren last year and again this spring training. “Changeup is a real pitch for him; fastball command is much, much better.”

At the time of Warren’s last start — March 4 against the Phillies — he  already had moved a step closer to the big-league rotation because of the lat injury suffered by Luis Gil that will keep the reigning AL Rookie of the Year sidelined for at least the first three months of the regular season.

When Warren took the mound Monday, he was staring down the possibility of being a rotation member when the season opens March 27. The Yankees learned on Monday that staff ace Gerrit Cole will need season-ending Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Though not quite as sharp as in his previous three exhibition outings, Warren didn’t do anything to hurt his cause in the Yankees’ 10-2 victory, allowing two runs (one earned), two hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings in which he struck out one.

“Nothing’s changed mentally,” Warren, an eighth-round pick in 2021, said of his mindset after the outing. “Definitely the opportunity has presented itself, unfortunately, because of the circumstances. But I came into camp knowing I needed to go earn a spot, take a spot. And so I haven’t changed my mindset on that. It’s still go do what you’re supposed to do, show them who Will Warren is.”

Who is Will Warren?

“A competitor,” said Warren, who has been trying to incorporate a curveball into his arsenal. “I want to attack the zone early, get after it and, at the end of the day, just keep the team in the game, [put] us in position to win.”

Warren is not assured a rotation slot because the Yankees may well choose to insert veteran righthander Carlos Carrasco, a non-roster invitee who has a big-league out clause in his deal with the club. The Yankees could lose him to another team at the end of spring training if that club guarantees him a spot on its major league roster, a distinct possibility.

Regardless, because of the injuries the Yankees' rotation has suffered — and the attrition that pretty much every rotation in the majors goes through — Warren’s second chance in the big leagues will come soon enough.

“I’m really excited about where he’s at in his development,” manager Aaron Boone said on  Monday.

The quiet but uber-confident Warren said he is “absolutely” ready for his rotation opportunity whenever it comes.

“I came into camp thinking that too,” he said. “Whatever happens happens. I can’t really control anything other than how well I go out there and throw the ball. That’s been my mindset the whole time."

Notes & quotes: Austin Wells, getting a legitimate look at the leadoff spot, hit his third leadoff homer  in six starts on Monday. Paul Goldschmidt (second) and Trent Grisham (first) also homered in the opening inning, the latter two going back-to-back . . . Former Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, who signed with the Tigers in the offseason, batted leadoff for Detroit and went 1-for-3 with two RBIs. He received a nice ovation from the Steinbrenner Field crowd before his first at-bat . . . Righty Yoendry Gomez, who is out of options but is pitching his way into consideration for a bullpen spot, struck out two in 2 1/3 innings and has not allowed an earned run.