ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the month of June, Adam Warren has arguably been the New York Yankees' most reliable starting pitcher.
However, he will start July out of the starting rotation and back in the bullpen.
As earlier reported by the New York Daily News, Warren was informed by the Yankees following their 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that he would not make his scheduled start Wednesday in the finale of this three-game series, but would instead report back to the bullpen, where he is likely to work as the setup man to interim closer Dellin Betances while the Yankees wait for Andrew Miller to come off the disabled list.
Nathan Eovaldi will start in his place Wednesday.
The reason is that while Warren has outpitched Eovaldi, CC Sabathia and, at times, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, he is the only starter capable of performing in relief as well. And with Ivan Nova back in action after missing all of 2014 following Tommy John surgery, the Yankees' rotation had one arm too many, and it turned out to be Warren's.
Before Monday's game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi had been semi-evasive when asked whether he had made a decision on which of his starters would be moved to the bullpen and whether Warren was still scheduled to go Wednesday.
"Right now we're just in rotation, so that would be Warren, yeah," Girardi said. "We haven't made any changes."
However, that had changed by the end of the game, although Girardi did not share that decision with reporters. The Yankees sent out an official announcement about an hour after their clubhouse closed, so Warren was unavailable for comment.
Warren made 14 starts and was 5-5, but his 3.59 ERA was the best among Yankees starters, and his 1.198 WHIP was second only to Tanaka's 1.106. He had already pitched 82⅔ innings, four more than he had ever thrown in his previous two full big league seasons. Last year, he was 3-6 with a 2.97 ERA in 69 relief appearances, mostly in seventh-inning situations.
"I'm pleased with the way I've competed and how much I've learned as a starter," Warren told reporters after his last start Thursday against Houston.