Michael Pineda is not expected to return to the rotation until August at the earliest, Joe Girardi told reporters. He has not had another setback, that’s just the realistic timetable. It’s entirely possible Big Mike will be out even longer than that. That would really suck.
Pineda, 25, has been out since early-May with a strained muscle in his shoulder. He then suffered a setback following an Extended Spring Training outing a few weeks ago and has yet to even begin playing catch. Pineda had shoulder surgery two years ago and guys who have shoulder surgery tend to continue having shoulder problems. He managed only four starts and 19.2 innings before getting hurt.
With Pineda out until at least August and CC Sabathia still several weeks away, the Yankees do not have any rotation reinforcements on the horizon. They’ll stick with Vidal Nuno, David Phelps, and Chase Whitley behind Masahiro Tanaka and Hiroki Kuroda for the time being. They have reportedly been looking at the trade market for rotation help and you can expect their search to intensify in the coming weeks.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.