TAMPA — So far, the only solace the Yankees can take from trading Jesus Montero to Seattle for Michael Pineda is Montero has not lived up to expectations, either.
But Pineda — still rehabbing from last year’s shoulder surgery — is confident he will not only pitch in The Bronx this season but return to the form that made the Yankees ship their prized catching prospect to the Mariners 16 months ago.
“I’m going to be back and I’m going to be 100 percent,” Pineda said as he drove away from the team’s minor league complex. “My arm is feeling good and I’m the same pitcher I was before.”
Pineda and the team will find out soon enough if that’s the case.
After being limited to throwing bullpen sessions and batting practices, the right-hander said he is scheduled for his first simulated game of the season next week.
“I want to be able to do that because I want to be ready when they call me,” Pineda said. “I don’t know when that call is going to come. I want it to be soon, but I don’t know when it will happen.”
Pineda’s performance will dictate the timing of his promotion.
Once a significant piece of the team’s attempted cost-efficiency movement, Pineda has become another example of how difficult it can be to find good, young pitching.
With Manny Banuelos out after Tommy John surgery and Dellin Betances floundering at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pineda is a more vital piece of the organization’s future than he was when he was acquired.
“He’s continued to look good,” said Mark Newman, Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations. “With shoulder surgeries, there are always things that slow you down, but he’s constantly been getting better and healthier. We’re still counting on him.”
The 24-year-old Pineda has not won a game since July 30, 2011, going 0-3 in his last seven starts with the Mariners and then showing up to spring training in 2012 overweight before undergoing season-ending surgery for a labral tear on May 1.
Pineda is amazed at how long he has been out.
“I can’t believe I’ve been out for one full year,” Pineda said. “But everything is getting back to where it used to be, and I will get back to the team. Everything will be fine.”