Every Tuesday, Minor Matters will run down the top 10 players from the Thunder's 2010 season. In a year that saw eight of Baseball America's 16 pitchers (excluding Mike Dunn
and Arodys Vizcaino, who were out of the organization) in their top 30, not to mention Austin Romine and Brandon Laird, there were plenty of good choices to go around.

No. 3a Adam Warren
No. 3b D.J. Mitchell





Why they're here: Simply, they were two of the team's most reliable starters. Mitchell, who was part of the team's opening day rotation, settled down after a nasty start to the year.

Mitchell, promoted to Scranton when Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos were bumped up from Tampa, finished with a team-high 11 wins, a 4.06 ERA, 96 strikeouts and a better than 2-to-1 groundout-to-flyout ratio.

In fact, in his 19 appearances with the Thunder after April 29, Mitchell allowed more than three earned runs just twice. His 3.63 ERA during that span was 11th best in the Eastern League.

Warren didn't arrive until July 16, but he made quite an impact in his 10 regular-season starts. Most memorably, he broke a team record when fanned 15 Bowie Baysox hitters on August 18 at Waterfront Park.

Overall, Warren finished 4-2 with a 3.15 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings. During his tenure with the team, he established himself as its likely ace.

Outlook for 2011: Mitchell will likely begin 2011 in the Triple-A Scranton rotation. If Lance Pendleton stays with Houston, which selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in December, Warren will probably join Mitchell in Pennsylvania.

If Pendleton comes back, Warren may return to Double-A for a short while.