Yesterday (Sunday April 24th), the Yankees lost the final game of
a disappointing 9 game home stand (3 wins-6 losses), dropping the
finale 8-1 to a Rays Offense that was ranked 28th (of 30) in runs scored.
Michael Pineda was hit hard, 4 Home Runs 10 Hits, 7 Runs in 5 innings.
Most of the damage was done in the 5 run, 1st inning.
As that inning unfolded, Michael Kay, Paul O’Neill & Kenny Singleton on YES,
correctly pointed out that the damage was being done on Fast Balls right down
the middle of the plate with no movement.
After the game that was the same analysis offered by Jack Curry
and also Joe Girardi, saying – “Sometimes it’s hard to figure out. It just goes to show,
if you don’t make your pitches, and you leave balls in the middle of the plate, I don’t care
how good your stuff is, you’re susceptible to giving up runs”.
Also true, but here is what bothers me most about Michael Pineda’s
performance .. he was basically throwing 2 pitches, Fast Balls & Sliders
He didn’t throw his first Change Up until the score was already 5 – 0,
and very few after that. When asked after the game, Michael himself
also blamed lack of Fast Ball movement for his problem
In my opinion, you can’t be a successful 2 pitch starter. You can get
away with that in the Bull Pen but not in the rotation.
Batters can start guessing at the plate, which is exactly what many
of the Rays hitters were doing, evidenced by the 9 Strike Outs to
go with the 10 hits.
What really frustrates me is that the Yankees have been talking about
Michael Pinada needing to throw a Change Up since they traded for
him in 2012, yet there was no mention of this point by anyone during
or after the game.
Last Spring Training Pineda threw the Change very successfully
and carried it over into the regular season. The pitch not only came in
at a lower velocity, but it also had late life that tailed in the opposite direction
as Michael’s slider and four-seamer.
I was extremely optimistic that if Pineda’s surgically repaired
shoulder could hold up (and that’s a big IF ) the addition of a 3rd pitch would
help enormously.
Nate Eovaldi throws his Fast Ball with as much velocity as any starter in the league,
and yet understood he needed to add a change up. To his credit, he continues to
work on his split-finger change up, and has thrown it with more frequency and success during games.
We watched Phil Hughes struggle his whole Yankee career because he refused to add a 3rd pitch
only to go to the Twins and improve by adding a change up.
Here’s my tip to Pineda :
MICHAEL … KEEP THE CHANGE !
