University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tough Foes Boost Warren's Confidence
May 29, 2008 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
May 29, 2008
By Adam Lucas
The mighty offenses of Miami and Florida State are accustomed to having profound impacts on the confidence of opposing pitchers.
The two Atlantic Coast Conference powers spent the better part of 2008 shattering any frail pitchers unfortunate enough to take the mound against them; the Seminoles led the NCAA in team batting average and the Hurricanes ranked fifth in America in slugging percentage.
They are not the types of opponents a pitcher under pressure wants to face. Which makes it all the more remarkable that Adam Warren also experienced a profound impact in his confidence after facing FSU and Miami: it dramatically improved.
Warren, who is slated to start Carolina's third game of this weekend's NCAA regional in Cary (Matt Harvey will start Friday's opener and Alex White will pitch on Saturday), is coming off the two best starts of his junior campaign. He earned a win in Coral Gables by working into the sixth inning and allowing just four hits while striking out seven. In his next start, the New Bern native handcuffed FSU into the sixth, again giving up just four hits and striking out a season-high eight.
"It's been fun the last two weeks competing with two of the best lineups in the nation," Warren says. "From a pitcher's standpoint, that's about as challenging and exciting as it can get. It gives me confidence to know that if I can get those guys out, I can get most guys out."
The right-hander had that confidence coming into the 2008 season--and with good reason. He entered this year with a 15-0 career record. Until the 2007 postseason, he'd always been a bit of a curiosity on the Tar Heel pitching staff. Sure, he had a gaudy record. But much of it had been amassed against midweek opponents. How would that translate against tougher hitters?
That question was answered when Mike Fox turned to Warren in last year's ACC Tournament opener against Georgia Tech. The then-sophomore followed a strong performance there that quality performance with a stellar relief stint against Mississippi State in the College World Series, earning the victory, and then an even more impressive six-inning start against Rice.
That's how a potential 2008 question mark turned into great expectations. But Warren's junior season got off to an unexpected start when he allowed eight runs on seven hits in just 1.1 innings at Florida Atlantic. Over the next three months, he went just 1-1 against eventual NCAA Tournament teams NC State, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Virginia, with an average outing of less than five innings in those four starts.
He wasn't bad, but he also wasn't the Warren that had thrown against the Owls. Some pitchers take any struggles as an excuse to slack off in preparation. Warren, one of the most prepared pitchers on Carolina's staff, did the opposite.
"I never sensed any lack of confidence from him," says pitching coach Scott Forbes. "He always seemed positive, and he knew he had to work a little bit harder. He definitely stays with the process."
For Warren, that process is even more labor-intensive than other pitchers. Most Tar Heel hurlers throw one bullpen session per week. Warren throws two, a practice he began late last season. The bullpen double duty earns him some grief from his fellow pitchers, but it also makes him feel sharper on game day.
During one of those midseason side sessions, he made a slight alteration to the grip on his changeup. That's made that pitch more effective and given him a better way to attack lefthanded hitters, who were pounding him midway through the year. He's also thrown more two-seam fastballs after struggling to command the four-seam variety of that pitch.
"Location of the fastball has always been a big thing for me," Warren says. "That sets up my other pitches. When I'm not doing that, my rhythm is messed up and I'm speeding up or falling off the mound. I went back and changed a few things, and I've been more fluid and throwing more strikes."
While he's made some mechanical adjustments, he has made exactly zero changes to his off-the-mound routine. In the tradition of Robert Woodard, Warren is a Carolina pitcher who doesn't feel comfortable taking the mound unless he's turned in a rigorous workout schedule during the week.
As a freshman, he weighed 200 pounds. He now weighs 210, but freely admits, "It's a very different 210."
"If I don't get my weight work in, I'm not as prepared and not as confident for my next start," he says. "It can be the night of a midweek game with classes the next day, and there are guys in the weight room with me at 10 at night. That's a tribute to our program and that has changed over the last few years. That's the standard now and that says a lot about our program."
Warren's standard, too, is rising. He entered last postseason as the fourth starter, a status that could mean anything from a key start to a long relief outing to going entirely unused over an entire weekend.
This year, especially after his last two outings, he's a key starter in a group of starting pitchers that will be essential in determining Carolina's fate on the road to Omaha. The pitcher who has performed on college baseball's biggest stage knows there is no better time to turn in his best performances--against the nation's best teams.
"I've fixed some things mechanically, but it's also very mental," he says. "I'm getting more confidence with each start. As I have a good outing every time, I'm starting to click at the right time."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
