Yankees' Will Warren honoring late cousin with new number

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Mar 28, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SAN FRANCISCO — Already struggling with the side effects of a COVID-19 vaccination, Will Warren remembers his day taking a turn for the worse when his crying mother called during the summer of 2021.

It was then that the Yankees starter learned that his cousin, Nathan Griffith, died on July 25. Only 17, Griffith had been fishing with friends early that morning back home in Mississippi when he fell off a boat and drowned in the murky waters of Ross Barnett Reservoir.

“Kind of a freak accident,” a somber Warren told the Daily News on Friday.

Warren shared that story because he is honoring Griffith this season. The 26-year-old, who will make his 2026 debut at Oracle Park on Saturday, has changed his number from 98 to 29. The latter is what his cousin, also a right-handed pitcher, always wore on the diamond growing up and as a standout at Brandon High School.

For Warren, the switch is a way to keep his cousin’s memory and legacy alive.

“My cousin was a big old goober and got into trouble all the time, but he was really good at baseball, and he was a really good friend to a lot of people,” said Warren, who discussed the change with his family. “Stuff’s gonna get bad, and you’re gonna have bad days. But if you can show up and be there for people and put a smile on people’s face, then you’re carrying on his life. So for me to wear 29, that’s a big deal for a lot of people back home, and it’s a big deal for me too.”

Warren, who debuted in 2024 with No. 98 and kept it throughout his first full big league season in 2025, said that he tried to swap numbers last year. However, his friend and former teammate, Clayton Beeter, already owned No. 29.

Beeter ended up getting traded to the Nationals over the summer, but Austin Slater was assigned the number after being acquired by the Yankees.

“This year, when it became available, I was like, ‘I’m gonna try to get it,’” Warren said. “’If not, I’ll keep 98, but 29 would mean a lot to me.'”

With a new number on his back and his cousin on his mind, Warren is looking to build on a strong rookie season.

He was a stabilizing force for the Yankees last year, making 33 starts and logging 162.1 innings. While Warren did have a pedestrian 4.44 ERA, that number was inflated by a few clunkers, and his stuff graded out well as he struck out 171 batters.

This season, Warren is hoping that another change helps him out, as he pitched from the third base side of the rubber during spring training. The tweak coincided with an excellent camp, which Aaron Boone said went “under the radar” as Warren recorded a 1.42 ERA over 25.1 innings.

With Warren coming of such an impressive spring, the Yankees are hoping that he can take his game to a new level — with a new number — in 2026.

“Obviously, he had a lot of growth last year and built on it this offseason,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “He moved over on the rubber for a little more deception. That’s played well. It’s given him more space in the zone for the sweeper, which I think has been a huge addition to the attack plan.

“He’s just becoming more well-rounded and understands himself a little bit more.”

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