Why Will Warren is helping Yankees in piggyback role after strong start

SAN DIEGO — Coming off the best start of his season, Will Warren is going to the bullpen — at least for Friday night. The right-hander is expected to piggyback Max Fried in the series opener against the Padres at Petco Park, as the Yankees try to use off-days Thursday and Monday to their advantage.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Fried, in his second start back from the injured list for a left elbow bone bruise, is likely to be capped somewhere around 65-70 pitches again after throwing 63 across 3 ²/₃ innings against the Red Sox on Saturday.

So having Warren pitch behind him should help take some burden off the bullpen from having to cover too many innings. And while Warren is coming off a strong start, when he tossed seven innings of one-run ball Sunday against the Red Sox on a day when the Yankees desperately needed some length (and the win), Aaron Boone said it was not a difficult conversation to have with his pitcher to tell him he would be coming on in relief of Fried this time around. “We all understand where we are in the season, how important all these games are, and in Will’s case, how important he is to this team and what we’re doing,” Boone said.“We’re trying to win, and I think everyone understands that at this point.” While Boone claimed this was not part of the equation, it also gives Warren some experience coming out of the bullpen, a role that he could find himself in come the playoffs.

When asked if Warren would return to the rotation after Friday, Boone initially said, “Yeah, he could slot back in,” before hedging and saying, “We’ll see how it all shakes out.” Carlos Rodón is set to start Saturday while they were waiting on naming a starter for Sunday — Gerrit Cole would be on normal four days’ rest, which would then allow Cam Schlittler to start Tuesday against the Rockies on five days’ rest.I...