When it comes to questions in spring training, the New York Yankees have very few. They have solved most of their problems and questions in the free agency period by spending an ungodly amount of money on the top players. The biggest question the Yankees face is their fifth starter battle and more specifically if Michael Pineda can emerge as a reliable option.
Pineda came over from the Seattle Mariners to the Yankees for catcher Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi in early 2012 after finishing fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Pineda was suppose to be a 10-year starter for the Yankees and at the age of 22, but that hasn't come to fruition, yet. Pineda has yet to make a regular season start for the Yankees in two years due to issues with his issues recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery in May 2012.
Pineda is now healthy and competing for the fifth spot in the Yankees rotation, but I ask myself is this even a competition? Sure Pineda hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011 and there is no way of knowing what kind of player he will be, but when the Yankees acquired him they assumed he would be their number two or three starter for a long time.
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Pineda had one of the more dominant fastballs in baseball, averaging 94.7 Mph in 2011 and while incorporating his slider and change up he held opponents to a .211 batting average. Pineda has worked with Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothchild and is currently working on his bad habits, including the drop in his arm slot slowing down his fastball.
"When my arm is up, it's way better. Sometimes I bring it down when I'm going too quick. But when the mechanics are slow and everything is good … " said Pineda
Some of his Yankee teammates have gone as far as saying Pineda's fastballa and slider are "unhittable" when it's on. At 25-years old, a return to this form isn’t completely out of the question, but even at 80 percent of his 2011 self Pineda is more than qualified to be a fifth starter.
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Look for Pineda to win the fifth starter position for the Yankees and make his regular season debut soon after. The Yankess won the trade by default due to the rough shape Jesus Montero finds himself in, but for the future Pineda can find himself as a huge part of the Yankee rotation if he can stay healthy.
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