As we get deeper into camp, the last of the walking wounded work towards seeing their names on that Grapefruit League lineup card. The Yankees can look to knock two more very important ingredients off the championship recipe with the returns of Mark Teixeira and Michael Pineda. Both players are slated to make their spring training debut at the end of the week.
Michael Pineda, the Yankees big six-foot-seven wildcard, is scheduled totter pitch three innings in relief of Hiroki Huroda on Friday against the Detroit Tigers at Steinbrenner Field. Pineda hasn’t pitched in the majors since being traded to Yankees in early 2012. Everyone including Pineda has started to become both weary and anxious over whether or not he will pick up where he left off. So far this spring is treating Pineda a lot better then last year. He’s come into camp with a healthy shoulder and a positive outlook for the 2014 season. The good news came Sunday morning after Pineda tossed about two innings of a simulated game to Scott Sizemore and Zoilo Almonte. Joe Girardi who watched from behind the mound was impressed with what he saw. He thought Pineda looked almost as good as he did in 2011.
Next on the list is Mark Teixeira, while his exact status is still a little vague, the team thinks he will be ready to play either Thursday or Friday. Tex has been slowly been working his way back from last years wrist injury. He’s been on separate workout regiment this spring, but has finally started to take live batting practice. While we the exact day still depends on how Teixeria feels as we get closer to the end if the week, Girardi isn’t too worried and has said he doesn’t think Tex is going to rush anything to fast. With Thursday’s game being an away game in Clearwater against the Philadelphia Phillies, my guess is he will probably play in Friday nights game against Detroit. Either way it’s all good news today for Yankee fans.
