TORONTO — The ocean of money, insane hype and unreasonable expectations fell on Masahiro Tanaka’s head.
While Friday night’s starter against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre is being counted on to bolster the Yankees’ rotation, Michael Pineda is equally important to how this season shakes out.
Tanaka cost the Yankees’ $175 million and will knock down $22 million of it this season. Pineda cost the Yankees Jesus Montero, who has turned into a colossal bust, and will make $538,000 this season.
Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 28 games (27 starts) for Rakuten in Japan last year. Pineda? He appeared in 10 minor league games after missing all of 2012 due to tricky shoulder surgery.
So why is Pineda considered a key? Because the Yankees have spent two years attempting to get him right, and they still believe a healthy Pineda is an above-average major league pitcher.
He might be the fifth starter, but when the Yankees acquired him, they truly believed they had a top-of-the-rotation arm.
Instead, Pineda arrived in his first Yankees camp 30 pounds overweight. In an effort to create velocity that wasn’t there, Pineda overthrew and blew out the shoulder. Surgery followed.
Now, Saturday against the muscular Blue Jays Pineda makes his Yankees’ debut, but there was a time when not everybody was convinced Saturday would arrive for the 6-foot-7, 265-pound right-hander from the Dominican Republic.
“I had questions,” manager Joe Girardi said “When we watched what he went through there were questions about when we would get him back. “Would we get the Michael we had seen before in Seattle with the good slider and the velocity.
“His changeup has improved since then, but there were questions in my mind because the surgery he had there is not as much success as maybe Tommy John.’’
In early May 2012 Pineda underwent surgery to repair an anterior labral tear, and from the beginning, the Yankees believed Pineda was in for a long haul.
Last year he was on the disabled list from mid-March to early July. He made five rehab starts and then was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 7.
In six games, Pineda went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA. This spring scouts questioned if the fastball ever will reach the 97 mph level he showed in Seattle in 2011 when he was an All-Star but raved about the slider.
“I know it’s been two years,’’ the 25-year-old Pineda said. “But time has gone quick.’’
Though Pineda believes his velocity consistently will return to the mid-90s, he also said he is a better pitcher today than 2011.
“I learned a lot and pitching good now,’’ Pineda said. “Now I am a better pitcher. The slider is good right now and my changeup is better than before.’’
And the velocity?
“I don’t think about velocity,’’ said Pineda, who worked at 92 to 93 mph during spring training, occasionally hitting 94. “I am focused on making good pitches and competing on the mound. The slider is good and the fastball command and the changeup. I am not thinking about velocity.’’
Two years ago, Pineda didn’t create the buzz Tanaka is this season. But the Yankees clearly thought they had something special because they gave up Montero, who they believed was going to be a middle-of-the-order bat even though he was a below-average catcher.
Saturday, Pineda can provide a glimpse of what the future looks like.