After making two rehab starts in the minor leagues, the New York Yankees announced on Saturday morning that Michael Pineda would rejoin their starting rotation on Wednesday.
Girardi said Pineda is expected to start on Wed vs Astros. That moves Tanaka back to Friday.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) August 22, 2015
The 26-year-old has been on the disabled list since July 30 with a right forearm strain, and after his 4.2 innings, 62 pitch outing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday night, it appears that the right hander is set to rejoin the rotation.
When asked by reporters, manager Joe Girardi stated that the team’s intention is to go with a six-man rotation. As Pineda will slide into the rotation on Wednesday, Masahiro Tanaka, who was originally scheduled to pitch Wednesday, will get the ball on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
As Pineda’s return was approaching, Girardi did say that a six-man rotation during the month of September was a strong possibility. With a long stretch of games, including a 17 consecutive game streak to end the season, providing extra rest for the starting pitching could be beneficial, especially being that the team is in a very tight playoff race at the moment.
Although he had some struggles before landing on the disabled list, Pineda could really help this team down the stretch. In 19 starts this season, the right hander has a 9-7 record with a 3.97 ERA, and although he has let up a lot of hits so far (129 in 118 innings pitched), he also has a high strikeout rate, almost averaging a strikeout per inning this season.
When Wednesday comes closer, the club will announce a corresponding roster move in order to add Pineda back to the 25-man roster.
