TAMPA — Adam Warren can imagine it because he’s done it plenty of times before. He can close his eyes and envision the view from the mound at Yankee Stadium. He’s back because he wants to do it again.
“It would be pretty special,” Warren said in a phone interview with NJ Advance Media this week.
Finished with his Tommy John surgery rehab, Warren said he feels healthy and believes he can prove himself again to the team that drafted him in 2009, watched him become a key member of its bullpen, traded him away, reacquired him in another trade, traded him away again, and then then brought him back to heal.
“Really just looking for an opportunity to show that I’m coming back and that I’m the same guy that I’ve always been and come back even stronger than I was my last couple of years,” he said.
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Warren was among the many who threw bullpen sessions at the team’s first workout for pitchers and catchers at its player development complex Thursday.
He said that in offseason workouts, his fastball has hovered in the high-80s and that he expects it to tick up to its usual low-90s when he feels the adrenaline of a big-league atmosphere.
Warren added that he was able to throw bullpens and face live hitters, including big-leaguers Greg Bird and Kyle Schwarber, near his Tampa home this offseason.
“I’m feeling confident about arm strength being there, it’s just getting the reps,” he said. “That was key for me leading up to spring training, just being able to prepare myself with bullpens and stuff and if I can jump right in and get as many reps as I can instead of trying to build up, I want to be ready. I just haven’t been in a game or any game situation.”
Warren was a big part of the Yankees’ pitching staff from 2013-2015, posting a 3.23 ERA in 146 games, including 19 starts.
Then they traded him to the Cubs in a deal that brought second baseman Starlin Castro to New York in December 2015. But he was back by July 2016, when the Yankees acquired him in a package that also netted them Gleyber Torres but jettisoned closer Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs.
His second stint in pinstripes lasted through the 2017 season before he was sent to the Mariners at the 2018 trade deadline for international bonus slot money. Warren would finish the season with Seattle before taking a one-year, $2-million deal from the Padres for 2019.
With San Diego, Warren suffered his first significant injury, dealing with a forearm strain and eventually needing Tommy John surgery. Warren posted an uncharacteristic 5.34 ERA in 25 games that year with the Padres. He called the season “strange” in that he couldn’t quite pinpoint why his trademark control had become sporadic.
Now? He’s as healthy as ever, he said. He added that he’s been thankful for how engaged the Yankees have been with his rehab process. He knows the team’s bullpen is already stacked, but he believes he could contribute.
“Just to possibly make it back this year would be awesome,” he said, “especially with the team they put together. We have a lot of belief in the team going into this year and I’d love to be part of something special.”
Just like he’s done before and knows he can do again.
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