NEW YORK — You can start the official countdown to Aaron Boone’s most difficult decision. No, we’re not talking about whether Ben Rice should be hitting against lefties (he finally is) or if Anthony Volpe deserves to be re-installed as the everyday shortstop (it’s a done deal).The real intrigue is what happens to Will Warren when Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon return from the injured list. That verdict is getting closer.

Give it another month, tops, and suddenly Boone will have a serious numbers problem in his rotation.Two of his three back-end starters will be sent to the bullpen. One stays put. So take your pick: Warren, Ryan Weathers or Luis Gil.Not so difficult, you say?

Warren is the most talented of the three. He proved it again on Saturday against the Royals, tying his career-high with 11 strikeouts in a 13-4 blowout. Warren should be the runaway favorite to stay right where he is.But Boone’s selection process isn’t one-dimensional.

The Yankees’ bullpen is unreliable and needs as much help as the rotation, if not more. Warren would be an excellent choice to stabilize the eighth inning in a way that neither Jake Bird nor Camilo Doval has been able to do.Boone saw enough during the Angels series, when his relievers combined to allow 14 runs in 18 innings. The Yankees managed to split the four games with the Angels, but they were lucky to not get swept.

As one scout said, “There’s something missing with that team right now. They’re just not the Yankees.”’But the Yankees caught a break when they welcomed the Royals for the weekend. No MLB team has a worse record than Kansas City.

Staggering into the Bronx on a six-game losing streak, the Royals were just what the Yankees needed. Talk about wrong-way momentum: The Royals are 0-10 against the Bombers dating back to October 2024. More?

The Yankees have beaten the Royals in 20 of their last 21 series since 2015. That’s a 54-18 slaughter. So it was no surprise to see the Royals getting carved up again on Saturday.

They were down 7-0 by the fourth inning, with no activity in the bullpen. The game was already over. The rest of the afternoon turned into Warren’s personal showcase.“What’s stood out to me is how much swing-and-miss (Warren) is getting with his fastball,” Boone said after the game.

“He’s got a unique delivery and (arm) slot that allows that to play. He’s a better pitcher now than he was last year and the end of last year, and he keeps growing.”Warren doesn’t throw as hard as Cam Schlittler, and he lacks Cole’s ability to out-think hitters. But Warren’s been blessed with a staccato, hard-to-time delivery, a short-arm motion — think dart thrower — and movement to both sides of the plate.Best of all, Warren throws strikes, which fuel his impenetrable self-confidence.

Boone is right: Warren is growing up before our very eyes. My hunch says the manager will reward Warren with a rotation spot for now. But another number crunch awaits later this summer when Clarke Schmidt comes off the injured list.

That will be Boone’s toughest call.In the meantime, enjoy The Will Warren Show. The Royals were caught looking on five of the 11 strikeouts, helpless against Warren’s superpower. It’s that last-second wind-shear movement that freezes opponents.

Although he’s too modest to gloat — “If I can … throw three pitches and get three ground balls, I’d love that” — Warren is evolving into an even more complete pitcher than Schlittler. That’s bad news for the rest of the American League, especially if the Yankees emerge from the weekend with a renewed killer instinct. It’s worth noting that Saturday’s rout was their first in weeks.

Fourteen of the Yankees’ first 20 games were decided by two runs or fewer. The law of averages demanded a blowout.The Yankees took care of that with a five-run third inning against Royals starter Noah Cameron. That’s when Cody Bellinger hit the first of his two home runs on the day — and of the season, actually — which addressed one of Boone’s other red flags.The lineup has been especially vulnerable against left-handed pitching.

They’ve lost four of their last six encounters against southpaws. Bellinger is the first to admit he’s been a big part of the problem. A .176 average (3-for-17) represents a steep drop-off from 2025, when Bellinger batted 0.353 against them.But Boone nevertheless kept Bellinger and Ben Rice in the lineup to face Cameron.

The dividends were everywhere: Bellinger went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Rice blasted his seventh home run over the right-field wall in that third-inning explosion. It’s hard to imagine Boone sitting either slugger against Cole Ragans, another lefty, on Sunday.All in all, it was the kind of afternoon that sends fans home happy and lets a manager grab a decent night’s sleep. The Yankees haven’t had many of those in April.“We’re a talented team that can win in many different ways,” Bellinger said.

“Obviously, these games are more ideal, right? But I like where we’re at. We’re feeling good, we’ve got a l