Yankees pitcher Will Warren relives "surreal" battle against Mike Trout

The New York Yankees were struck by injuries to their rotation at the start of the season. Starters Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil were both sidelined, but rookie Will Warren has stepped up in their absence.

While Warren was shaky at the start of the season, he has been solid in his last few games, providing a big boost to the pitching staff following Ryan Yarbrough's latest setback.

The young ace faced one of his biggest challenges in three-time MVP Mike Trout in the series opener against the Los Angeles Angels last week. When asked about facing Trout at Fanatics Fest on Sunday, Warren said on the "Talkin' Yanks" podcast (15:00 onwards):

"I think looking back after the game ended was kind of surreal. I mean, I think when I was little, Trout's the greatest baseball player ever, that's what I thought. And you know, to pitch against him was just kind of a dream come true. I mean, it was crazy to think about."

Will Warren was a bit shaky in his start against the Angels as he conceded three earned runs in his first three innings. However, the rookie settled in nicely, striking out 11 hitters in six innings.

Will Warren recalls facing "tough" Dodgers lineup featuring Shohei Ohtani

Will Warren's start against the Angels was one of the best of his rookie season; however, he also reflected on his nightmare outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"That Dodgers lineup is tough, man," Warren said. "Definitely Shohei Ohtani to Freddie Freeman to Teoscar Hernandez and Mookie Betts wasn't in there."

Warren was taken for seven runs in just 1.1 innings in his first start against the defending World Series winners. However, he has seemingly recovered from the harrowing start and hopes to aid the Yankees' pursuit of a division title.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash