In 2014, Art Warren had a career college ERA over 7.00, Tommy John surgery and a dwindling chance of making it to the Majors.
Seven years before Warren became the newest member of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff, Warren was in the middle of an underwhelming college career. He allowed 37 runs in 40 innings across his freshman and sophomore seasons at the University of Cincinnati, and he missed his junior year after having Tommy John surgery.
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College pitchers with that history rarely get drafted, let alone become MLB players. But Warren’s college pitching coach, Aaron Hilt, believed otherwise.
“He’s got a chip on his shoulder, and he’s a dangerous man with that,” Hilt told scouts. “That’s kind of been the story of his life.”
Warren took a winding path from his hometown in Napoleon, Ohio to the University of Cincinnati to Division II Ashland University and to MLB. Now, he’s back in Cincinnati after the Reds traded for him Wednesday.
His road to get here started in 2012, when UC pitching coach JD Heilmann began forming Warren into a professional pitcher at the Bearcats’ practice facility. Warren’s long-toss routine was stuff of legend – he could throw foul pole to foul pole without looking like he was trying.
Warren was already so strong that he could do more pushups as a freshman than anyone else on the UC baseball team, and the 6-foot-3, 230-pound right-hander was one of the hardest throwers on the team.
“He looked like a middle linebacker that could throw a baseball extremely fast,” former Bearcats pitcher Connor Walsh said.
Despite his natural talent, when Warren staked his claim for a spot in the Bearcats’ starting rotation, he didn’t make it.
“Some guys put too much pressure on themselves to where if they make one wrong pitch, they fear they won’t get another opportunity,” Heilmann said. “That happens to every young pitcher at this level. But (Warren) wanted to do well so much, that might have hurt him a little bit.”
Warren pitched in 16 games and 27 ⅔ innings as a freshman in 2012, and he allowed 23 runs. Because he had a 7.57 ERA, he mostly pitched in low leverage situations in non-conference games. As a sophomore in 2013, Warren pitched 12 ⅓ innings and allowed 14 runs.
For a pitcher who could throw in the high 90s and also had a dominant slider, Warren wasn’t executing at the level he expected, and other pitchers in his recruiting class leapt him in the rotation.
“It was just growing pains,” said Walsh, who made 13 starts for the Bearcats in 2013. “Making that jump to Division I baseball is tough, and sometimes psychologically you feel like you have to do too much to compete. In reality, (Warren) had what it took to win right off the bat. But you don’t learn that until you get some experience.”
Warren wanted to pitch more consistently, so at the end of the season he sat down with Heilmann and told him he planned to transfer. Because he wanted to play right away, Warren transferred to the Division II level. He went to Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, a school that was close to home and has one of the top Division II programs in the country.
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But before he could start his junior season, Warren suffered an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery. Twelve months later, he returned at full strength for his senior season.
With his coaches’ help, Warren began connecting with MLB scouts.
“He really improved his command, and that was the one thing that held him back at Cincinnati,” Ashland head coach Josh Schaly said. “He wasn’t throwing enough strikes for them, and the biggest thing we told him was that he was always trying to make the perfect pitch.”
“I told him, you’ve got good enough stuff, just make a good pitch.”
Warren’s ascent in 2015 started in Florida, where Ashland played an early-season tournament game against Gannon University. With about a dozen scouts in attendance, Warren took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Since he was coming off Tommy John surgery, Hilt walked to the mound to remind Warren that he was on a pitch count.
Before Hilt could say a word, Warren looked Hilt in the eyes and insisted, “You’re not taking me out.”
Warren wound up allowing a hit, but following that game there were scouts at almost all of Ashland’s series.
“He just got comfortable,” Hilt said. “He was trying too hard and pressing too hard. It was more of a mental thing. But when he was here, he got the opportunity to throw. This was a guy that you saw was destined to be a Major League pitcher even in high school and at Cincinnati.”
Warren became the Seattle Mariners’ 23rd round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. But just like he had in college, Warren struggled adjusting to the next level. In rookie ball in 2015, Warren allowed three runs in seven relief innings. He moved up to High-A in 2016, but he had a 5.15 ERA.
It was still a long climb to MLB, so Warren made some adjustments during the 2017 season. He began exclusively throwing out of the stretch. He started pitching with more tempo and a big leg kick.
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He earned an invitation to the 2017 Arizona Fall League, where he got to pitch against some of the top prospects in baseball. In nine innings, Warren didn’t allow a run.
Even Walsh said he could hardly recognize his former UC teammate when he pitched against him in the Arizona Fall League.
“This dude toes the rubber, and jaws were dropping in our bullpen,” Walsh said. “We were all professionals, and it’s pretty hard to get a jaw to drop. But (Warren) stepped on the mound, and he was throwing 98 miles per hour and touching 100. Then when I saw his slider, I was like, ‘oh my God. If this guy doesn't get to the big leagues, I don’t know who will.”
Walsh was right, and a year-and-a-half later Warren made his debut for the Seattle Mariners. In Sept. 2019, Warren held a 0.00 ERA through 5 ⅓ MLB innings, but he hasn’t had another chance until now.
Because the coronavirus pandemic wiped out Minor League Baseball in 2020, Warren hasn’t thrown a competitive inning since Sept. 2019. He spent the 2020 season with the Mariners, but he didn’t throw a pitch in a game.
The Reds liked what they saw in Warren, especially amateur scouting director Brad Meador, who helped recruit Warren to UC back in 2011.
On Wednesday, Cincinnati added him to the 40-man roster.
“What the Reds are going to be able to do with (pitching coach) Derek Johnson and (Director of Pitching) Kyle Boddy, they’re going to love him because he’s a velocity guy with a big breaking ball,” Hilt said. “Everything that they’re doing, (Warren) has never really had that. They’re going to tap into some stuff with him.”
On Wednesday, the Reds called Warren and told him he’d get to play for his home-state team. Hilt was working out with Warren at Ashland when he got the call.
When Warren learned he was going back to Ohio, he gave Hilt a hug and called his mom. Warren told her he’s coming home.
“It was awesome to witness that moment being his coach and seeing him grow,” Hilt said. “There were a lot of dreams coming true.”
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