TAMPA — The Yankees know this much about Michael Pineda: He throws better than he runs.
Pineda was taking part in the Yankees’ pre-camp with about 10 other pitchers in a sturdy 4 ¹/₂- lap run around the main practice field at the minor league complex and on a humid Wednesday.
The big right-hander huffed and puffed his way around the course, finishing next to last, far back of the pack, but at least Pineda completed the run. He finished something.
That’s a start for the living, breathing question mark of a pitcher.
Pineda’s Yankees career has had more stops and starts than the team could have imagined the day it dealt Jesus Montero to the Mariners for the hurler, who burst onto the Seattle scene as an All-Star in 2011.
After starting 8-5 and having a 2.58 ERA on July 4, Pineda finished 9-10 that season for the Mariners with 173 strikeouts in 171 innings, compiling a 3.74 ERA. His last start was Sept. 21 vs. the Twins. He lasted four innings.
He hasn’t pitched in the majors since. And the Yankees still are waiting.
But there is hope, and that is a key word.
“I don’t know what we are going to get from him, but we have hope,’’ general manager Brian Cashman told The Post Wednesday. “This just has to play itself out. He has to perform April through September, and it has to be in New York and not in Trenton. The reports are good now, but he has to continue to progress and do it in a major league setting. We certainly would love to get him back.’’
Give Cashman points for honesty.
Pineda has been a puzzle since the day he arrived, out of shape in 2012 and with no understanding of what it takes to maintain a major league career. Then came the fateful shoulder injury and surgery.
But there is some good news regarding Pineda. A scout who saw him pitch last year at Triple-A came away impressed.
“His fastball had life,’’ the scout said. “I was encouraged. The big issue is that it is a shoulder injury. The velocity was up around 92-94 [mph], and he needed to command the fastball a little better in the strike zone, but that comes back later after surgery.’’
As for Pineda’s change-up, it was much too firm at 88 mph — there needs to be a 10 mph difference between the fastball and the change-up. That takes work. His slider was a little long at times, a bit slurvy, not sharp, but, the scout said, “I thought he was definitely on the comeback trail.’’
Pineda soon had another setback. He remains locked on that long comeback trail.
If he could have stayed healthy, the Yankees’ pitching would have been in much better shape, and maybe the team would not have felt the need to shell out $175 million for Masahiro Tanaka. But what’s done is done.
Now the Yankees are just hoping Pineda can win the No. 5 spot in the rotation in a spring training battle with David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno.
Phelps gave his scouting report Wednesday to four reporters at the complex, saying of Pineda, “He looks really good, his spirits are up.’’
Pineda elected not to talk to the media as he left the complex, barreling past in his red Cadillac Escalade.
Words really don’t matter at this point. There is nothing for Pineda to say. It’s about actions. He has to perform. He has to stay healthy. He has to stay in shape. He has to produce. He has to show the Yankees he is a major league pitcher.
At the time of the trade, all that was a given. Then it all went wrong. Pineda turned 25 last month. There is time to get back on the path to success. But it must happen now. This spring training is huge for the 6-foot-7, 260-pounder.
After all, before you can even think about finishing a race, you have to start.