WHY JETER & PINEDA SET THE TONE EARLY

(Photo:Brian Blanco/Newsday)
You want to see poise, leadership and excitement? Newly acquired Michael Pineda showed up to Spring Training yesterday... 4 days early. Excited much? The reality is this sets a positive tone and a positive energy for what could be a very good year for Pineda in pinstripes. The Associated Press has the story HERE and here are some quotes:

"I'm excited because it's my first time, I'm working hard to help my team make it to the playoffs."

"My mom is excited because she has a lot of family in New York, and she's never come to America... So this year, it's the first time she's coming to America. She's excited."

Pineda's mom lives in the Dominican Republic. Man... I cannot wait to see Pineda work this Spring and I can’t wait for him to start at Yankees Stadium. Sure, I’ll miss Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi, but we needed a strong starting pitcher and in the end, I believe Cash made the right move to better our club.

(Photo: Ron Antonelli / NY Daily News)

Oh and here's a quote from Derek Jeter talking about Pineda, again, brought to you by AP:

"He's big, 6-foot-7... He's got a great arm. He's got unusual amount of control for someone that is that big and a power pitcher. He has a presence on the mound."

Jeter also had a lot to say about Spring Training this year. According to the New York Daily News HERE, Jeter says he's older and wiser:

“I learned it’s a lot harder to get back in shape than it is to stay in shape. You play a long season, you want to rest and I think you have to. But you take less and less time off.”

“I don’t go out there with a sense to prove anything... I go out there to try to get better, try to improve, try to help us win, but I don’t ever take the field saying I have to prove something to someone.”

Baseball is just about here ladies and gentlemen... holy crap, it was the longest winter of my life.

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