Yankees vs. Red Sox Game Preview: Up and Adam

Adam Warren managed to beat Bryan Mitchell and Esmil Rogers out for the fifth starter spot in spring training, a spot he looks to protect today against the stacked Red Sox lineup. Warren's final spring training was a forgettable one, as he allowed four earned runs in four innings against minor leaguers on March 31. He is a notoriously nice guy though, so it's great that he let those MiLB guys get some confidence knocks in before meaningful games started. Against the Red Sox, he has a 4.28 ERA over 17 relief appearances, but Boston has basically had a different team for the past four seasons now.

Out of the bullpen, Warren's average fastball velocity climbed over 95 mph, a number which might decrease as he is asked to pitch at least five innings. Still, he has shown the ability to mix his pitches up very well, becoming the latest Yankee pitcher to benefit from Brian McCann's famous game-calling ability. Look for him to get creative with his pitch sequencing to keep Boston's hitters on their toes.

The Red Sox will counter with the always interesting Joe Kelly, who has a 4.50 ERA against the Yankees over two starts. Kelly boasts a mid 90's sinker with lots of life, but hasn't been able to command his pitches well enough to reach his front of the rotation potential. He throws hard pitches over 60% of the time, good news for guys like Brett Gardner, who have been known to do damage when they guess correctly. Last season, Gardner hit .483 with an .862 slugging percentage when putting the first pitch in play. Kelly isn't exactly an inning-eater, so the hopefully the Yankees can find a happy medium between guess hitting and patience at the plate to get to the Red Sox bullpen early.