Meet A Prospect : Adam Warren

Adam Warren was selected in the fourth round of the 2009 first year player draft out of the University of North Carolina where he graduated with a degree in business administration. The year prior, in 2008, he was drafted in the 34th round by the Cleveland Indians but declined to sign with them. He went 32-4 with a 3.42 ERA and 240 strike outs in 65 games , 49 of them being starts, in his college career at UNC. He left UNC being the second winning-est pitcher in UNC history and tied Scott Bankhead for second on the list in winning percentage at a staggering .889. He won his first 19 games as a Tar Heel , marking the longest streak since Bankhead won 20 games in 1983-1984. In 2004 he was chosen to be New Bern Sun Journal Baseball Player of the Year.

Adam Warren is currently a pitcher for the Yankees AAA affiliate Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He is often paired with fellow AAA pitching prospect David Phelps and DJ Mitchell who all seem ready to come up to the majors as early as 2012. Warren, a polished college pitcher, gets the slight edge ahead of these two because Phelps has had some injuries in 2012 and DJ still needs to work on polishing his pitches. Warren has a great ability to eat innings and has made major strides with his slider, which is quickly becoming his out pitch. Adam also possesses a curve ball, which is swing and miss good when he locates it correctly, and a changeup that is generating more and more ground balls to complement his slider and fastball. Warren actually throws three types of fastballs with a 4-seamer, a 2-seamer, and a cutter in his repertoire which all sit in the low 90's.

Warren is younger then the two prospects he gets lumped in with, at age 24, and is not yet rule 5 eligible and does not possess a 40 man roster spot. His ceiling is that of a #3 or #4 starter although I personally see him more at the back end of a rotation somewhere or in the bullpen. The future and the time is now for Adam Warren and 2012 I believe will be his official audition in Yankees pinstripes. Good luck to him on and off the field.