One Yankee debut after another. Michael Pineda is finally ready to throw his first official pitches as a Yankee, having missed the last two seasons due to right labrum surgery. He will be taking on the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in game two today in Toronto. Pineda has lost some of his velocity, but said that his command and slider are the same and his changeup has improved. “I remember like it’s yesterday. I remember my last game in Seattle, when the season was over. I know it’s two years, but the time has gone quick.”
Pineda came to the Yankees after the 2011 season in a trade that sent catcher Jesus Montero to the Mariners, a trade in which Pineda hopes to prove with this season that the Yankees won since Montero has not worked out at all in Seattle. He said his time away from the Majors gave him the opportunity to refine his approach, and he feels he is a better pitcher because of it. “Yeah. That’s what I’m feeling,” he said. “Now I’ve learned a little more, pitching in the game, you know? Now I have better pitches. My slider was always good, but now it’s better. My changeup is good right now. It’s better than before.”
Dickey struggled with his command in his first start of the year against Tampa Bay. In five innings of work he tied a career high with six walks and allowed six runs on five hits. He had decreased velocity on his knuckler, which lead to the poor outing. “I just lost the feel of it there for a little bit. I was struggling to find a release point and did a poor, poor, job of making the in game adjustments that I needed to make. I think they scored five of their six runs with two outs, so I was one pitch away in almost every inning from getting out of the jam. Just couldn’t execute that pitch.”
Mark Teixeira left Friday’s game in the bottom of the second after he strained his right hamstring trying to make a play on a foul ball. Joe Girardi said if Tex isn’t feeling better by Monday, he’ll likely go for medical testing. “It kind of leaves you scrambling a little bit, wondering why it happens,” said Girardi. With no immediate backup at first, Kelly Johnson will most likely see a lot of action at that position if Tex does indeed land on the DL. On Johnson’s off days it is anybody’s guess who will start at first. The team doesn’t have a whole lot of depth at first in the Minors, JR Murphy perhaps could get a call up. Letting Mark Reynolds go in the off season, a move this writer strongly disagreed with, just came back to bite the team in the ass.
Notes on the game
Dickey was 2-2 in four starts against the Yankees last season, both of his wins coming in Toronto.
Pineda is 1-0 in three career appearances against the Blue Jays. His last start against them was August 15, 2011.
First pitch at 1:10 PM on Yes
