MLB

Pineda an interesting dilemma for Girardi, Yanks

TAMPA — The Yankees pray, hope and dream Michael Pineda is pitching so well they have to devise ways to keep him from getting to 200 innings this season — considering he has pitched zero innings in the big leagues the last two years.

But Joe Girardi said — owing to Pineda having missed most of 2012-13 due to shoulder ailments — that “you are not getting 200 innings out of [Pineda]” in 2014. Brian Cashman said no definitive number has been placed on the right-hander yet, but the Yankees “understand we have to be careful.”

So, would the Yankees be better served beginning the season with Pineda at Triple-A, where they could regulate and constrain his innings, bringing him up in, say, mid-May, and letting him go the rest of the way without limit — health permitting? To that Cashman said, “If he earns the right to make the team, he will make the team.”

Translation: There is no value in having Pineda shoot his bullets elsewhere if he would help the big league club. That is still being debated. Girardi said Vidal Nuño and Adam Warren remain in the competition for the No. 5 starter job, though their names are no longer slotted on his master board that shows when each pitcher is starting.

It does seem to be the certainty and health of David Phelps versus the upside of Pineda for the No. 5 slot. Pineda made his second spring start Thursday, threw 48 pitches, allowed no runs and struck out five. But the tall righty was not nearly as precise as in his first game and got hit harder.

The scouts had him topping out at 93 mph a few times, pitching mainly at 91 mph, and deploying a strong changeup and slider that allowed him to get outs when he was too routinely behind in the count against what was far from the Orioles’ “A” lineup.

Pineda missed persistently low and away to righty hitters, as if he were trying to get more velocity or not finishing his pitches or simply getting to the side of the ball. Brian McCann said it was just inaccuracy combined with the natural cut on Pineda’s fastball. The scouts noticed no signs he wasn’t finishing his pitches or was favoring his surgically repaired shoulder. Instead, they said he threw free and amped up to 92 to 93 when he wanted. Pineda said he felt he will add even more velocity as he builds up his arm — he averaged 94.7 in 2011.

“The best thing is my shoulder is feeling good,” Pineda said. “I can pitch and I can compete in a game.”

He said he wants to pitch every five days without restraint, but said he would understand if Girardi and the Yankees were trying to protect him. Girardi said he wants to see Pineda navigate a lineup two or three times and lock in with better command, but added, “He’s taken steps in the right direction.”