The New Yankee - Michael Pineda

Michael Pineda - NY Yankees

By The Big Ragu

Yankees spring training officially opens Sunday for pitchers and catchers. There have been some early arrivals already. Among them Phil Hughes, David Robertson, Corey Wade and newcomer Michael Pineda. Pineda has been the talk of the town already and mostly likely will be all spring. He was acquired from the Seattle Mariners along with pitcher Jose Campos in a trade for catcher Jesus Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi.

He began his first season in the major leagues with a 6-2 record and had a 2.16 ERA but finished the year 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA. He led the majors with righty opponents only hitting .184 against him. Lefties hit .237. He fizzled out the second half of the year but still finished 5th in the Rookie Of The Year voting just behind Yankee starter Ivan Nova.

Don't let the record fool you. It was his first year in the bigs and he may have just run out of gas. It didn't help that he was in Seattle where scoring runs are hard to come by. Scoring runs shouldn't be a problem with the Yankees. If it is then the Yanks are in trouble no matter how he pitches. 

Yankee #: 35

Michael Pineda 

• Born : 1/18/1989 Yaguate, Dominican Republic
• Height: 6' 7
• Weight: 260 lbs.
• College: None
• Draft: Non Drafted

2011:

• W-L: 9-10
• ERA: 3.74
• K: 173
• BB: 155
• WHIP: 1.10
  
  
  In other spring training news former lefty Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima signed a minor league contract but failed his physical so he will not report to Yankees camp. Okajima spent most of 2011 with the Triple-A Pawtucket. He pitched only 7 innings with the Red Sox and was 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA in just 8 1/3 innings.