Throughout all of sports, and especially in Minor League Baseball, players are taught never to look too far ahead. But when Will Warren planned out exactly when he wanted to reach each level of the Yankees’ farm system, the pitcher wasn’t getting ahead of himself; he was setting goals -- and has been conquering them one at a time.

Seeing how fast the Yankees’ current No. 7 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) has climbed the ranks since being drafted 243rd overall in 2021, it would seem the 24-year old must have skipped a level or two. In just his second season playing professional ball, Warren has climbed all the way to Triple-A, just one phone call away from The Show.

The Yankees’ top pitching prospect has taken big steps, with the biggest still to come. But each of those strides along the road, however much ground covered, came one step at a time.

***

In the beginning, Warren started playing tee ball in his native Mississippi, where it didn’t take him long to learn that he was meant to be a pitcher. “When I was like 8 or 9, I was probably the worst hitter on my team,” Warren says. “Kind of scared of the ball.”

So, Warren began developing his pitching skills, but standing just 5-foot-2 as he entered his sophomore year at Flowood’s Jackson Preparatory School -- on the smaller end, compared to his teammates -- Warren barely saw any time on the mound. Fortunately, a growth spurt soon hit: By the end of his junior year, Warren had grown nine inches. With more height came more strength behind his pitches and, inevitably, opportunities to take the ball. It wasn’t long before college scouts started showing up to watch the right-hander.

Southeastern Louisiana University, in particular, made its interest known, and once Warren connected with head coach Matt Riser and his staff, the pitcher felt like it was the right fit for him.

Despite beginning his freshman season in the bullpen, Warren set his sights on a starting role after one of his coaches threw out the possibility of making the transition. After spending one summer in the collegiate Northwoods League stretching his pitch count, Warren was able not only to reach his goal, but even to surpass it when he was named the Lions’ Saturday starter as a sophomore. But the step up in status brought with it some adversity; unexpectedly, that season turned into one of the lowest points of Warren’s career.

“I went through a little mental thing where I would pitch perfect games, no-hitters, scoreless through four,” Warren says, “and then I’d come out for the fifth inning, and I would just lose it. I didn’t know how to fix it. It became like every single start.”

The inability to pitch deep into games caused Warren’s coaches to move him down in the rotation, but it was up to the pitcher to find a way back -- and to deal with the mental strain of demotion. He didn’t even want to talk about baseball while in the dugout.

Warren tried not to pay too much attention to how many innings he was pitching, instead just focusing on his job, but the struggles lingered. He ended the season with a 6.72 ERA in 16 games -- and one saving grace he could carry with him into the offseason.

In Southeastern’s playoff game against Stephen F. Austin, Warren allowed just two hits through seven innings. Not only did the pitcher pick up the win for his team, but he finally felt that he had a foundation to build off of.

Before he could take advantage of the newfound confidence, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Warren’s junior season. What should have been a year to build up his resume leading into the June MLB Draft was instead limited to just five outings.

The Draft did take place that year, but in a shortened, five-round form; Warren’s name didn’t get called. Whatever frustration Warren felt, he also had options. He could sign with any big league organization for a maximum of $20,000 -- lower than he likely would have earned as a mid-round Draft pick -- or he could return to college. Warren did get some pro interest -- including from the Yankees -- but he decided to return to Southeastern, where he enjoyed a breakout senior season. He led the team with 95 strikeouts in 14 starts, going 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA. The Yankees, still interested a year later, made it official, selecting Warren with their eighth-round pick.

Whatever confidence problems slowed him down previously evaporated, as Warren now knew that the most successful organization in baseball history saw something special in him. So, when the Yanks shut him down for the rest of 2021 instead of having him pitch in Rookie ball, he trusted them.

“They’re telling me all this stuff, so I’m trying to soak up as much as possible,” Warren says. “I feel like, they wanted me here for a reason, they’re not going to put me in a situation for me to fail.”

***

The second half of 2021 was all about getting Warren ready for professional baseball.

Long removed from his days as a too-short high school freshman but still needing to fill out his frame, Warren reported to the Yankees at 6-foot-2, 175 pounds. “Little, long and lanky,” the pitcher says. His new team’s strength and conditioning staff sent Warren to work with the organization’s nutritionists, and the pitcher had strict instructions to basically eat whatever he wanted at home. Combined with an increase in his water intake, within just three weeks he was seeing results he never had before; by the spring of 2022, he had gained about 15 pounds.

On the mechanical side, Warren started absorbing an analytical part of baseball to which he had never been exposed. The more he looked into it, the more he learned what pitches he could -- and couldn’t -- throw.

Suddenly, Warren had a number of professional pitching coaches at his disposal. Preston Claiborne, a developmental coach in the system, became a mentor of sorts; the Texas native and his new protege connected over topics such as hunting, and the fact that Claiborne had played college ball at Tulane, as did Warren’s coach at Southeastern Louisiana.

As a former big league pitcher -- Claiborne appeared in 62 games for the Yankees across 2013 and ’14 -- the coach was someone Warren quickly learned to trust. He felt that he could confide in Claiborne and, in return, Claiborne saw potential that made Warren worth the time. The pitcher was raw, but he had the ingredients. “He came into the organization with a two-seam, a mediocre four-seam, a curveball and changeup,” Claiborne says. “As soon as he added the weight … he just evolved into a dominant arm.”

One thing in particular that Warren picked up while working with Claiborne was his slider. The two played around with different grips until one produced a result that Warren couldn’t even believe. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Warren says. “I turned around and looked at him with my mouth open, like, ‘That was gross. What was that?’ And he’s like, ‘That’s what you’re going to throw.’”

The right-hander continued to work on the slider at home during that offseason, sending Claiborne videos as he practiced the pitch that was recently deemed the best slider in the Yankees’ farm system by Baseball America.

“It’s pretty devastating,” Claiborne says. “It’s hard to argue with that sentiment, seeing the results against it.”

By the time spring of 2022 rolled around, Warren showed up to Tampa with more arm strength, a new pitching arsenal and a hunger to get back on the mound -- which led to a strong preseason for the rookie. The results were so promising that he felt he could possibly start the season in High-A, skipping Single-A entirely. Warren didn’t get too far ahead of himself, though, taking things one pitch, one batter at a time as he worked toward his goal.

On Opening Day, Warren could indeed be found on the roster of the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, beginning his climb up the Yankees’ Minor League ladder.

After a rocky first outing, he began to string together solid starts for Hudson Valley. When his teammate, Carson Coleman, was called up to Double-A Somerset on May 17, Warren thought that, even though he had been pitching professionally for just a few weeks, maybe he could have the same fate. He challenged himself to make it happen before the team’s series against the Aberdeen IronBirds in three weeks’ time.

Warren had his longest outing with the Renegades on May 25, going six innings, allowing three runs and striking out six. Just three days later, he got the call to Double-A -- right before his Hudson Valley teammates boarded the bus for Aberdeen.

The pitcher wasn’t content to enjoy the scenery at his new home. Looking around at the top prospects in the Somerset clubhouse, Warren felt like he had a chip on his shoulder. The Patriots were loaded, celebrating and promoting top prospects such as Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe.

Warren wanted that same treatment.

“I wanted to be somebody that somebody talks about,” Warren says. “I didn’t realize it was going to come as fast as it did. Now, I want to keep rising. I want to keep proving that I am who I say I am.”

***

Warren began to settle into Somerset and, little by little, started to feel that he belonged. By the end of 2022, he was widely regarded as the elite prospect he had hoped to become.

That season, Warren recorded a combined 3.91 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 26 starts, going 9-9 and skyrocketing to the No. 8 spot in the final 2022 MLB Pipeline Yankees' Top Prospects list -- making him the highest-ranked pitcher. He also earned that year’s Kevin Lawn Award as the organization’s best Minor League pitcher.

Starting this season back in Somerset, he continued to find success, twirling 12 innings of scoreless baseball in his first two May starts. He was looking to keep rolling in his next start, with his family planning to come up from Mississippi to see him pitch, but Warren kind of hoped they would need to reroute their trip.

“I’m looking on the schedule,” Warren says, “and I look to see who Scranton was playing.” The Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders were scheduled to play in Charlotte that week, so Warren gave himself another goal: He wanted to be promoted by that trip. “I was like, ‘Y’all book y’all’s plane trip, but that’s my goal. I’m just going to give you a heads-up.’”

As fate would have it, instead of starting at TD Bank Ballpark, Warren was called up to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that same week, meaning all his family’s plans needed to change. But his parents’ rerouted flights are just further proof of how, one at a time, Warren has tackled nearly every goal that he has set. Now in Triple-A, on a pitching staff filled with guys who have seen time in the Majors, Warren has another goal that keeps him going -- making it to The Show.

“You can taste it here, and you’re close,” Warren says. “You’re in the mix. It’s just about how consistent can you be here to force their hand.”

Brianna Mac Kay is an editor/publications assistant of Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the July 2023 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.