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Pitcher Zach Arneson, who is currently assigned to the Class-A Charleston RiverDogs, is rehabbing a pre-season injury and has not yet pitched in 2012.

But when the man who was the Yankees’ ninth-round draft pick in 2011 does return, he’ll be looking to resume a pro career that started with a championship and will hopefully ultimately end up in The Show.

The Yankees took Arneson at No. 299 overall last June, marking the second straight year that the righty had been chosen; the Giants had taken him out of Cal State Bakersfield in the 21st round in 2010, but he returned to college – transferring to Lewis-Clark State – and was drafted again, this time by his favorite team, after posting a 2-1 record with a 282 ERA and 46 strikeouts for the Warriors in 2011.

Arneson signed almost immediately and was assigned to the Yankees’ Short Season-A affiliate in Staten Island, where he flourished out of the bullpen. In 15 games, the righty went 2-1 with a 3.57 ERA for the SI Yankees, and even though he did miss a month with a back injury, he was (along with fellow draftee Philip Wetherell) a key late-season bullpen cog for the eventual New York-Penn League Champions.

The now-23-year-old was impressive in fall instructional leagues before injuring himself again over the winter, but the organization felt confident enough in his progress to assign him to Charleston.

Many of his teammates from Staten Island are also in Charleston as of now, and if all goes well, Arneson could again be part of a championship squad, even if he never throws a pitch in 2012.

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