Pineda To The DL With Shoulder Inflammation

(Courtesy of The AP)

Somehow I don't think this is what Cash had in mind when he made the big trade back in January to bring Michael Pineda to the Bronx.  After a spring full of questions and storylines about Pineda's physical condition and velocity, everything came to a head last night when he failed to make it out of the 3rd inning in his final ST start, allowing 6 earned runs on 10 combined hits and walks and then complaining of soreness in his right shoulder.  Pineda was scheduled for an MRI this morning and multiple beat guys are reporting that the MRI revealed inflammation in the right shoulder.  Now, instead of being the team's #2 starter behind CC, the scenario that Cash and the entire organization surely envisioned when they pulled the trigger on the trade, Pineda will open the season on the DL.

There are already multiple theories coming out on why this happened.  Pineda reportedly didn't work out at all over the winter and came into camp overweight, which certainly could have explained the diminished velocity all spring.  He could have been using spring camp to pitch himself into shape, and Joe commented last night after the game that Pineda's mechanics were different last night, suggesting he was trying to overthrow to add velocity.  Both Cash and Joe said last night that they have asked Pineda multiple times during ST if his arm felt alright and every time he said it was fine, until last night.  There's no way to know for sure how long his shoulder had been bothering him, but it's not unreasonable to think that Pineda was trying to push through the injury knowing he was in a competition for a rotation spot this spring.

To be honest, I really don't know how I feel about all of this right now.  I've been one of the biggest Pineda supporters this spring, constantly banging the "don't worry about his velocity, he's pitching fine" drum and preaching patience with the kid and now this happens.  All the comparisons to Phil Hughes' 2011 that I've been trying to brush aside now look far more realistic and I can't help but question if this entire season will end up being a wash for Pineda much like 2011 was for Hughes.

I'm surprised that the Yankees didn't do their due diligence in checking on what Pineda had been doing during the offseason to prepare when they were discussing the trade, and would be even more surprised if they did check and still decided to make the trade anyway.  That would go against everything the organization stands for when evaluating players.  At the same time, I'm relieved that all the MRI showed was inflammation, and Pineda will only be on the 15-day DL instead of the 60-day.  At his age, and with his upside, this is not the end of the world and the Yankees can still come out in the positive on the trade if Pineda can fully recover and get in better shape.

No matter where you stood on Pineda this spring, almost everybody was in agreement that the Yankees' surplus of pitching depth was a good problem to have and this latest development proves why.  They lose a potentially dominant piece of the rotation but are still covered with CC, Kuroda, Nova, Hughes, and Freddy to open the season, with Andy waiting in the wings.  That being said, it's still disappointing that a trade for what should have been a #2 starter and key piece of the rotation for the long-term future has resulted in these negative early returns.