Yankees: 3 unexpected standouts from NYY’s first spring games

2. Adam Warren

The Yankees couldn’t have picked a more polar opposite persona to inhabit Tommy Kahnle’s No. 48 than Adam Warren.

But so far, so good for the transition overall.

Potentially readying to enter his third different tenure with the Yanks, Warren’s career totals are a riddle wrapped in an enigma, and the 33-year-old must be uniquely frustrating for every other MLB team.

After all, all Warren does is pitch well for the Yankees. And all he does is struggle when he goes elsewhere.

Adam Warren is destined to be a Yankees middle reliever

A Bronx Bomber from 2012-2015, Warren put up drab-yet-special ERAs of 3.39, 2.97, and 3.29 in a trio of full seasons (19 starts, mostly in his final season). He was then dealt to the Cubs in the Starlin Castro trade and put up a 5.91 mark in the first half…before heading back to the Bronx in the Aroldis Chapman deadline mega-deal, only to throw up a 3.26 mark down the stretch.

Brian Cashman unexpectedly dealt him to Seattle in 2018 for international bonus money, and he finished out the season decently, but proceeded to post a 5.34 ERA the next year in San Diego before succumbing to Tommy John surgery.

The Yankees have waited out his lengthy rehab, and seemingly out of nowhere, Warren has brought his typical sturdiness to the early spring bullpen competition, throwing up two casual innings without allowing an earned run (with a pair of whiffs).

Would it shock anyone if Warren somehow made the Opening Day roster again? Why did we not consider this earlier?