The road to recovery continues for Michael Pineda, and the
results are looking good. On Tuesday, Pineda had his latest outing, and it was
encouraging. Pineda got his fourth start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and he
continues to impress. The Yankees are handling him carefully, limiting him to
three innings. However, in those three innings he gave up no runs, struck out
three, and gave up three hits. In each of his four AAA starts so far, he has
struck out at least as many batters as innings pitched.
He is now on a schedule where he takes the ball every 5th
day, and every productive start is another step towards the Yankees rotation. He
did have one bad outing on July 11 when he could get through the fifth and he
was charged with 6 runs. He did strike out five and walk one, but he hit two
batsmen and that raised a question as to his readiness. On the positive side,
that was the only bad start in AAA thus far.
It is hard to express how badly the Yankees need a quality
starter in that rotation. His dominance and strikeouts is evident more and more
with each start. At the same time, with all of the injuries the team has
sustained, it is hard to blame the Yankees for being extra careful. At 24 years
of age, there is a bright future ahead for this kid and the Yankees need to
manage him well. Lasting only three innings is not going to cut it in the
Bronx, so the short answer is “not yet”. With the trade deadline almost here, and
without a clear picture of any deals right now, we believe he has to be a key
component in the August run. A dominant strikeout pitcher like Pineda alongside Hiroki Kuroda and the others in the rotation will be a welcome sight.
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