Pineda Has A "Trace" Of Inflammation In His Shoulder; Rehab Pushed Back Again

Michael Pineda was supposed to play catch yesterday for the first time since suffering a setback with his right shoulder/upper back last month.  The team scheduled him for what they called a precautionary MRI on Friday to make sure there was nothing wrong in the injured area and turns out there was.  Joe told the media before yesterday's game that the MRI revealed a "trace" of inflammation in Pineda's shoulder, so the decision was made to scrap yesterday's planned catch sesh and bump it back a week to next Saturday.

I fully understand and appreciate the need to be careful with Pineda because of the previous injury and close proximity of this back muscle to his shoulder.  But at this point, I think we have to start talking seriously about whether Pineda is going to pitch another meaningful inning this season.  He's been out with this injury since late April, he may or may not start playing catch again by late June, and the team has already said they're going to put him through a full ST to build him back up.  If the back and shoulder haven't healed up right after 2 months of rest, I highly doubt they're going to hold up once he actually starts pitching again.

Pineda To Be Out Until August

The news on the field has been all good in the last 4 games.  There was a bit of off-field news before last night's game that's not so good.  When speaking the media before the game, Joe said that Michael Pineda will be out of action until August as he works his way back from his back/should muscle setback.

According to Joe, Pineda has yet to resume playing catch after being shut down a few weeks ago in an ExST start.  Joe expects him to resume playing catch "fairly shortly" and from there the Yanks are going to take it slow with him and build him back up to a regular workload through bullpens, BP sessions, and some MiL rehab games.  They anticipate that process taking a month and a half, so it'll almost be like another Spring Training for Pineda.

Joe was quick to state that Pineda had not suffered another setback.  The team just wants to be careful with him and make sure they don't rush him and give him enough time to heal.  While it's good to know that there have been no further setbacks, the return of the kid gloves mentality with Pineda is not a good sign at all.  The injury is already in the vicinity of his shoulder injury and when all is said and done it's going to keep him on the shelf for 3+ months.  With all the health problems he's had, it's looking more and more like he's never going to be the pitcher the team expected him to be when they traded for him.

Pineda Update: Threw 30-Pitch 'Pen Session Yesterday, Decision Coming Today On Next Step

Pineda threw a 30 pitch bullpen earlier today. No issues. Will determine wether he throws another pen or face hitters tomorrow #yankees
— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) May 21, 2014

 While Shawn Kelley took a big step back in his rehab work yesterday, Michael Pineda took another small step forward.  He threw a 30-pitch bullpen session before the game and did so without any pain or problems in his upper back/shoulder area.  It was the 3rd 'pen he's thrown and the decision on whether he throws another one in the next few days or graduates to facing live hitters will be made when the team sees how he feels this morning.

We're still weeks away from Pineda returning to the rotation, so don't get too excited.  But progress is progress.  Pineda moving up to live batters would bring him another step closer to coming back and helping the depleted rotation.

Pineda To Throw A Bullpen Session Tomorrow

Pineda will throw a 25 pitch bullpen session tomorrow
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) May 17, 2014

Joe gave updates on a few of his injured pitchers earlier today, and this was the most positive of the news.  Michael Pineda, on the DL since 5/6, is slated to throw his first bullpen session since being hurt tomorrow.  He's thrown a few side sessions in the last week and graduating back a mound is the next important step in getting back to full strength.

Pineda is eligible to be activated on Wednesday, but that's definitely not going to happen.  The Yankees have said from the minute he got hurt that they were going to take it slow with him and Joe announced last week that his timetable was going to be longer than the initial 3-4 week estimate.  I'm betting on at least 2 bullpen sessions over the next week and at least 3 MiL rehab starts after that before he returns.  Call it mid-June if there are no setbacks.

Roster Moves: Ryan Activated, Pineda Reinstated From The Suspended List, Placed On 15-Day DL

Roster moves: B. Ryan back from 15-day DL, MLB reinstated M. Pineda off susp. list, NYY put Pineda on 15-day DL w/ rt shoulder muscle injury
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) May 6, 2014

As expected, the Yankees have made their roster moves in response to Michael Pineda's 10-game suspension ending today.  He has been reinstated from the suspended list and placed on the 15-day disabled list for his back muscle strain.  The once again available 25-man roster spot was taken up by Brendan Ryan, who was activated off the DL.

This move gets the Yanks back to a normal roster breakdown: 8 positional starters, 5 starting pitchers, 1 DH, 7-man bullpen, 4-man bench.  They could use some defensive help up the middle, so expect to see Ryan get into the lineup mix immediately.  Pineda will start a throwing program later in the week to get started on his rehab.  We'll see how true that initial 3-4 recovery estimate was.

More On Pineda's Lat Injury

In case you missed it late last night, the diagnosis on Michael Pineda is a Grade I strain of the teres major muscle in his back.  He'll be further evaluated by Dr. Ahmad today, but the early estimate from the team was an expected 3-4 weeks out and then rehab appearances after that to build his pitch count back up.  Given how careful they were in managing his shoulder rehab, I anticipate the team will take the same approach here.  We could be looking at 6-8 weeks when all is said and done.

As for the injury itself, it's less severe than a tear of the muscle, which is considered an uncommon injury by the American Journal of Sports Medicine.  Generally, a tear of the teres major tendon takes 3 months to come back from, so a 3-4 week downtime estimate is encouraging given the potential worst case scenario.  The muscle strain is limited to the back, and has no relation to Pineda's previous shoulder injury, although a strain in that area could and usually does manifest itself in upper arm pain and it would be bad for Pineda to alter his pitching mechanics to compensate for that and risk damage to the shoulder.

This injury is definitely not a good thing.  Between the pine tar suspension and this, the Yankees are losing a key part of their rotation in a time where they can least afford to be without him.  It's not as bad as it could have been though, and Pineda will be able to return to the mound this year.

Pineda Suspended 10 Games By MLB (UPDATED)

Yankees RHP Michael Pineda suspended 10 games, starting tonight, for possessing a foreign substance during Wednesday’s game at Fenway Park.
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2014

No surprise there.  We knew this was coming the minute he got tossed last night.  The suspension starts tonight if Pineda chooses not to appeal, and I can't imagine why he would, and he will be eligible to return on May 5th.  He'll miss 2 starts, but because of the scheduled off-day on Monday the Yanks will only need to fill his rotation spot once.  I imagine David Phelps will be the leading candidate to make that spot start.  According to Dan Barbarisi, Shane Greene and Bruce Billings are with the team in Boston.  No word yet on roster moves to add them to the bullpen.

** UPDATE 4:40 PM- Greene and Billings have officially been called up, Dean Anna and Preston Claiborne have been sent down, and Ivan Nova was moved to the 60-day DL.  There's your daily dose of roster moves. **

On Pineda, Pine Tar, And General Human Stupidity

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Nobody likes a cheater.  We're all raised to follow the rules and play fair.  But in the sports world, especially the baseball world, the blurring of the line of right and wrong is an unspoken understanding between all players and coaches and there are plenty of familiar phrases that speak to that mindset.  "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying".  "It ain't cheating if you don't get caught".  And so on.

Michael Pineda was trying last night.  He was very obviously struggling with his grip and command of the baseball in the bottom of the 1st inning due to the colder temperatures and wind blowing through Fenway Park.  The guys on the ESPN broadcast pointed it out no more than 10-12 pitches into the inning.  He labored through it, went to the dugout, and came back out for the 2nd with a little substance aid to help solve his grip problem.  His method of using this substance was so blatant and flagrant that it forced John Farrell to point it out to home plate umpire Gerry Davis, who very easily identified the pine tar smudge on Pineda's neck and ejected him from the game.  Pineda was already toeing the line of baseball rules again by going to the pine tar.  He got caught doing it and so he was cheating.

Michael Pineda Is The Least Slick Dude In The History Of Baseball

(Courtesy of MLB.com)

I mean come on, dude.  You know we live in a world of HD television cameras, right?  Did you think you weren't going to be checked?  Did you think slapping it on the side of your neck was going to make it less noticeable than it would be on your hand?  Please don't tell me you're stupid enough to think that nobody would notice because you're darker skinned.

I almost don't want to know what Pineda's explanation for this is because there simply can't be one that's not completely and utterly idiotic.  He might as well have jogged back out on the mound in the 2nd with pine tar under his eyes like eye black and under his chin like a fake goatee.  Just next level mental midgetry right there.  Dude deserved to get ejected and he deserves all 10 games of the suspension he's probably going to get.

P.S.- When Gerry West touched his neck and said "that's pine tar", my mind flashed back to that episode of "The Fresh Prince" where Will pretends to be Ashley's father and the teacher calls him out for having a fake mustache.  I would have given Pineda a small sliver of props if he would have hit Davis with the "No it's not!" response and just stood there.

Pineda's First Start Highlights The Need To Develop His Changeup

(Courtesy of the AP)

For reasons related to my post-UConn victory celebration last night, I was unable to recap yesterday's game.  The game marked the second straight Yankee debut for a highly-touted young pitcher, only this time it was a player coming back from injury rather than pitching in his first MLB game.  Michael Pineda was outstanding yesterday, allowing a single run in 6 innings of work, walking nobody, and striking out 5.  He threw 83 pitches, 58 for strikes, and his stuff looked very good.  His fastball was lively and averaged 94 MPH and his slider was very sharp, drawing 7 swings and misses.  He even mixed some cutters in.

If there's one negative to take away from Pineda's start yesterday, it was the lack of changeup usage and the problems it caused him against left-handed hitters.  He faced lefty swingers 12 times and they were responsible for 4 of the 5 hits he gave up, including 2 hard-hit doubles and an RBI single.  The development of Pineda's changeup was supposed to be what helped him against lefties, but there wasn't much sign of it yesterday.  He only threw a change once.

We had heard that Pineda was working on his changeup during his MiL rehab starts and bullpen sessions last year, and I thought I read somewhere that it looked better early in spring camp.  If yesterday's start was any indication, however, he still has a long way to go to make it a useful pitch for himself.  Hopefully he starts to work it in more and gets more comfortable with it.  He's going to need it to keep lefty hitters honest.

On Michael Pineda's Workload Limit

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

That Michael Pineda was formally announced as the winner of the ST 5th starter competition yesterday was hardly a surprise.  He was clearly the best man for the job based on what he showed in his first 4 ST appearances (2 ER, 16 K/1 BB in 15.0 IP).  What was a little bit of a surprise was Joe's declaration that Pineda would not have an innings limit this season.  The Yankees have been so, so careful bringing Pineda back from his shoulder injury.  As a young pitcher with only 1 full season of innings under his belt, it stood to reason that they would continue that strategy and put some kind of cap on his workload this year.

So The Yankees Basically Won The Pineda-Montero Trade Yesterday, Right?

(Fist bump city.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The title of this post was a topic that came up on our daily email thread yesterday, mostly jokingly if I interpreted the email correctly.  The now infamous Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade of 2012 has been an easy source of comedy in the baseball world with how poorly the deal has turned out for both sides thus far, but the more I thought about it last night, the more I think the joke is actually true.  Even if he wakes up today, has his right arm fall completely off of his body, and never throws another pitch for the Yankees again, Pineda's start yesterday guaranteed a W for the Yankees on that deal.

Projecting Michael Pineda As A Starter In 2014

(Courtesy of William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

After 1 failed trade and 2 lost seasons, it appears as though the Yankees will finally get to see what Michael Pineda can do in 2014.  Actually, it might not be what he can do so much as they'll at least get to see him throw a pitch in a regular season game.  The shoulder injury suffered in 2012 may have taken away enough of what Pineda had to prevent him from ever being the pitcher he was or becoming the pitcher he could have been.  The Yankees certainly treated him as carefully as possible in his rehab from the injury to increase the chances of him making a full recovery.  They placed him on strict pitch count limits last year in the Minors and shut him down early after he reportedly felt some stiffness and soreness in the surgically-repaired shoulder late in the summer.  Still, there's no way to know what type of pitcher he's going to be moving forward until he's back out competing on a Major League mound.

Where In The World Is Michael Pineda?

(Courtesy of Martin Griff/The Times of Trenton)

It's been 3 months since Michael Pineda was activated off the disabled list to continue rehabbing his shoulder from 2012 surgery.  It's been 2 months since he was removed from his final Triple-A start of the season with stiffness in that shoulder and shut down for the rest of the season.  Despite the team taking a very cautious approach with his rehab workload, and despite Cash saying at his year-end presser that Pineda was and is healthy, the fact remains that he was shut down for the season after throwing only 40.2 official MiL innings and has still yet to throw 1 regular season pitch as a Yankee after 2 years.

There's been little to no information on what Pineda has been doing since being shut down.  He spent the remainder of the regular season throwing side sessions at the team complex in Tampa, but there's been no talk of the next step or a plan for 2014.  Cash continues to take the cautious stance with Pineda, saying only that Pineda would "compete for a job" next spring and referencing the MiL options he still has remaining.  Knowing, at least based on Cash's word, that Pineda was healthy at the end of this season and knowing what the team's intentions were when they traded for him, that's just not good enough for me.

Good News On The Bad News About Pineda & Phelps

The dual diagnoses are in for the double dose of injury setbacks that have left the Yankee rotation paper thin and I guess you'd say they're both positive considering the alternatives, even if they put both players' returns this season in jeopardy.

David Phelps has another strain in his already strained right forearm.  He was scratched from his MiL start on Saturday with elbow pain and there was concern that problems had spread to the elbow.  He'll be completely shut down for 2 weeks and then start throwing again.  My guess is the team will take it slow with him when he restarts a throwing program and we won't see him until late September if at all.

The tests and MRI on Michael Pineda's shoulder all came back clean.  You'll remember that he made his start on Saturday but left after 2 innings due to shoulder stiffness.  The plan for him is to rest him 7-10 days, re-evaluate, and then see how he feels.  With the team already limiting his innings/pitch count in the final months of the season, I wouldn't expect much from him the rest of the way.

Sucks that each player will be unavailable during a time when they could help the team, but at least they aren't going to have to miss any serious time because of major elbow or shoulder problems.  That's a fair trade.

P.S.- Cash confirmed that Vidal Nuno is out for the rest of the year too.  Balls.

Yanks Taking The "Innings Management" Approach With Michael Pineda. Why Didn't I See This Coming?

A small scare went up last night after Michael Pineda was removed from his latest Triple-A start after just 3 innings.  They were 3 solid innings, with no runs allowed, 3 hits, and 3 strikeouts, and his pitch count was only at 39.  After stating that they wanted to give him more time to stretch out his pitch count, Pineda was done after not even half of that count.  Not a good look.  Any possibility of an injury was quickly shot down by Brian Cashman's explanation that "innings management" was the reason for the early exit.

Of course.  After saying for over a month that I expected Pineda to come back (when he was fully ready) and be immediately inserted into the rotation, I never once considered the possibility of the Yankees actually taking the cautious approach I suggested way back in September of last year.  It's become the new flavor of the month branch-off of the modern "limiting the workload of young pitchers" school of thought, and looking at Pineda and his situation with the Yankees from 30,000 feet, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Pineda Strong Again In Latest Rehab Start

In injury/comeback-related news that's not playing out like a middle school argument, Michael Pineda made his latest MiL rehab start last night for Double-A Trenton and turned in another good performance.  He tossed 6 shutout innings with just 2 hits and 2 walks allowed and 4 strikeouts.  With a pitch count of 80, Pineda threw 77 pitches (52 for strikes) and according to Mike Ashmore was hitting 95 on the radar gun.

This is the same type of stuff we've seen from Pineda in his previous rehab outings and the news continues to be encouraging.  With less than 2 weeks left on his 30-day rehab window, Pineda should be looking at 2 more starts before the Yankees have to make their decision and I'd like to see both of those come against the highest level hitters possible in Triple-A.  The smart move is probably to send him down to the Minors again to regain the year of team control, but there's still time until that call has to be made.

Pineda Strong In His Second Rehab Start

Michael Pineda made his second rehab start yesterday, a simulated game at the team's Tampa complex, and came through it very well.  He pitched the equivalent of 5.2 scoreless innings with just 3 hits and a walk given up and 5 strikeouts.  He threw 74 pitches, a slight increase from his first start, and although I haven't read any reports or tweets on his velocity it's safe to assume it was in that same low-to-mid 90s range it's been for the past few weeks.

There was some talk earlier in the week about this start taking place with Double-A Trenton while High-A had their All Star Game this weekend, but the team decided they wanted this second start to be in a controlled environment.  Pineda didn't report problems with the shoulder, so I expect we'll see him with High-A Tampa or Trenton again this week with a pitch limit around 80.  Another small step in the right direction.

Pineda Throws 4.1 Scoreless In His First Rehab Start

Michael Pineda's first MiL rehab start was pushed back to today due to weather and it sounds like it was worth the extra day's wait.  Pineda allowed just 2 hits and 0 runs in 4.1 IP for High-A Tampa today, striking out 4 batters and walking just 1.  He threw 68 pitches, 42 for strikes, and via Anthony Rieber he was regularly sitting 92-93 with his fastball.

Rieber also spoke with a few other scouts who were on hand to take in the start.  One said Pineda "looked like the guy I saw in Tacoma a couple of years ago," which has to be taken as a positive given that Pineda wasn't coming off major surgery then.  There's no word on when his next start will be and for what team he'll pitch (High-A has their ASG next weekend), but the positive momentum continues for Pineda's comeback.

Pineda's Rotation Chances Improving With Every Rotation Problem

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's been almost a year and a half since the Yankees acquired Michael Pineda.  Sometimes it feels like it's been even longer than that.  The reports about his early spring performance in sim games and bullpen sessions has been more than encouraging, but yesterday he took the next real step in his comeback when the team announced that he would begin his 30-day MiL rehab assignment this Saturday with High-A Tampa.  He was reportedly sitting mid-90s again in his latest ExST start on Monday and hasn't had any physical issues outside of a cracked fingernail to hold him back.  At long last, the Yanks and us Yankee fans, will get a look at their haul from that now infamous January, 2012 trade.