Michael Pineda has now made seven starts for the Twins. He's 2-3 with a 6.09 ERA, and to paraphrase the manager in "Bull Durham," How'd he ever win two?
Mid-May was the point in the season in which, in the Terry Ryan era, the Twins were generally willing to lop a struggling veteran starter who was trying to milk another year out of his arm. Ryan isn't running this organization now, of course, and I suspect the current front office isn't contemplating dropping the ax on Pineda just yet.
A 6.09 ERA is ugly, no question, and that ERA has more than doubled over the course of his last four starts, including Sunday against the Yankees.Seven homers allowed in 34 innings isn't good either, and his body language frequently evokes unpleasant memories of Mike Pelfrey.
But there are reasons for patience:
*His walk-strikeout rates (9 walks, 30 strikeouts) are good. Those remain my preferred "leading indicator" stats, the ones that point to the quality of his pitches and the ability to hit the strike zone. As Jim Kaat said during the telecast, Pineda still has swing-and-miss stuff.
*The Twins signed him coming off Tommy John surgery as a two-year project, and they have been rather ginger in handling him so far this chilly spring. I doubt they're going to pull the plug six or seven weeks into the anticipated payoff on that investment.
*I don't think there's a starter in the minors who looks like a possible upgrade right now. In the aforementioned Ryan era, the likes of Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz were plugging a back-of-the-rotation spot to buy time for prospects to marinate in the upper minors. But the best current upper minors starter now is probably Stephen Gonsalves, and he has yet to pitch this season.
* Pineda is not killing the team. The Twins are 3-4 in his starts. Sure, you'd like better, but winning half the starts of your fifth starter isn't terrible. The Astros pinned two of those lousy starts on him; that will happen.
Bottom line: He's going to keep getting the ball.
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