I was able to wrangle an interview with Adam Warren before yesterday's Eastern League All-Star Game. He'll be starting on Friday in Trenton. Here's what he had to say to me yesterday.


Q: When did you get the news?

After our last game two days ago. They called me into Torre Tyson’s office and just told me the news.

Q: Were you expecting it?

A: Not really. I was just trying to focus on my next start. That’s been my deal. In the minor leagues, it’s always in the back of your mind that you want to get promoted. It’s not something you can sit there and wait for, it’s just something that kind of happens. It just kind of popped up on me.

Q: Can you tell me about how your season in Tampa had gone so far?

A: I felt like I had some success with Tampa. I felt like I got better as a pitcher as the season went on. Greg Pavlick and I had been working on a few things with mechanics, and working on the offspeed pitches. I felt like those adjustments really paid off. I felt like I was getting stronger as the year went and was pitching like I wanted to in those last few outings.

Q: Does that mean that you may not have been pitching to your expectations in the beginning of the year?

A: I felt like I was still throwing good, but I want to get better every time after every outing. Like I said, I was making a few adjustments, throwing a few more offspeed pitches for strikes. I felt like I was getting better as the year was going on. I’m still looking to improve on that even more.

Q: For the people who don’t know or haven’t seen you, can you tell me what you throw?

A: Four-seam and two-seam fastball, change-up, curveball and kind of a cutter-slider type deal. I basically just try to go after hitters and use a bulldog mentality. I try to pound the zone low in the zone to get ground balls and try to work as fast as I can.

Q: You got drafted pretty low in 2008, can you explain what may have improved your stock between then and draft season 2009?

A: I felt like I had a better year overall. No. 1, I felt like I got more confident on the mound, got more confident in the zone more. I’m not really sure where it came from, but I got a little extra two to three miles per hour on my fastball in my senior year. That helped me get more confident, throw more strikes and get ahead of hitters. I think a combination of those things and having a better year. That kind of stands out more to the scouts.