The New York Yankees enter 2015 with concerns about the starting rotation, but manager Joe Girardi is expecting one man to solve a lot of their problems-Michael Pineda. The Yankees acquired Pineda in 2012 for their then-star prospect Jesus Montero, but Pineda failed to contribute until last season.
In 2014 Pineda had some controversy involving pine tar, plus more injury problems. When he did pitch, however, he was very effective. Pineda ended 2014 with a 5-5 record, 1.89 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. The catch is that he only made 13 starts, and threw 76.1 innings. He's hoping that will change this season.
"I feel great but I don't focus on that,'' Pineda said about being considered an ace. "I am focused on pitching this season every five days. I want to be healthy all season and every five days put my team in position to win the game."
Whenever Pineda has been on the mound in his career he's been dynamite. Even though his strikeout rates were way down in 2014, Girardi raved about Pineda's stuff.
"The three pitches he's got. His command was outstanding and the movement was great,'' Girardi said. "His slider was good and his changeup was good. He threw a ton of strikes. He is a strike thrower. You look at a lot of his games last year and there isn't a high pitch count. He is very efficient and that is great.''
Pineda's durability will need to improve if the Yankees want to end a two-year playoffs drought. CC Sabathia is coming off a disastrous eight-start 2014 campaign, and Masahiro Tanaka suffered a partially torn UCL last year that could require Tommy John surgery at some point.
"I think you can see the ability there, definitely. I was pretty excited what I saw today,'' Girardi said. "You get excited when you think about sending him out there every day and getting 30 to 32 starts and what he can possibly do for your team.''
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