After missing the 2012 and 2013 seasons with shoulder woes, Michael Pineda was finally where the Yankees wanted him to be in 2014 and was performing like the All-Star he was in 2011 with Seattle.
Over his first three starts, the right-hander was 2-1 with a 1.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts. He only walked two batters and was keeping hitters to a .203 batting average and .583 OPS.
For fantasy owners who used a late-round pick on him (his average draft position, according to fantasypros.com, which averages the draft positions in ESPN, Yahoo! and CBS leagues as well as MockDraftCentral, was 250.0), it looked like they had struck oil or discovered the Holy Grail. He was performing as if he were a pitcher who could be taken in the first few rounds, not the bowels of the draft.
Sure, there was that little pine tar incident against the Red Sox on April 10 when he earned his first victory. It was a big scandal, but seemed to become less of an issue when he took the mound for his next start and dominated the Cubs on April 16 sans pine tar (or any other visible aid).
That brings us to Pineda’s fourth start of the season, also against the Red Sox. He lasted just 1²/₃ innings, allowing two runs on four hits, before being ejected after Red Sox manager John Farrell told umpires about the glob of pine tar the 6-foot-7 right-hander had on his neck. Not only was Pineda ejected, he was suspended for 10 games (one start).
Originally Roto Files planned to wait until Pineda served his time and made another start (hopefully without pine tar again, because no one could be that stupid to tempt fate again, right?) to pass judgment on his future fantasy value. Nevertheless, that, too, was pushed back this week when Pineda suffered a Grade 1 major teres strain (between the shoulder and lat) that will sideline him for three to four weeks.
Manager Joe Girardi said Pineda’s latest injury has “nothing to do with the [shoulder] surgery he had,” which is great news (if you believe the manager isn’t just trying to put a positive spin the injury). As of Friday, Pineda was the fourth-most dropped player of the week in ESPN leagues, going from being owned in 85.2 percent of leagues to 47.8 percent.
Normally, when a pitcher is performing like Pineda over the first month, it’s a no-brainer to suck it up and wait until he comes back. But here are the issues with doing that:
1. Pineda is a pitcher who has a history with shoulder injuries, and having a new injury even mentioning that region is concerning.
2. Pitchers such as Houston’s Collin McHugh (available in 59 percent of ESPN leagues), the Dodgers’ Josh Beckett (54 percent), Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta (44 percent) or Cincinnati’s Alfredo Simon (26 percent) remain widely available to help your team.
3. Pineda seems to have about as much brain power as Jesus Montero has big league experience this year: None. How do you get caught using pine tar … twice … on national television … by the same team?
Roster spots are valuable and Pineda has some trust to earn back (and prove he can pitch without using pine tar) before he can fill one.
Pick up of the week
With both Chris Davis (.250, two HR, 13 RBIs, two SB, .754 OPS) and Bryce Harper (.289, one HR, nine RBIs, 1 SB, .773 OPS) hitting the disabled list, fantasy owners were left to scour the waiver wires in search for players who could fill their production (which hasn’t been much considering where they were drafted — they were both Top 20 picks).
Roto Files suggests looking at Nick Markakis, who has taken over first base duties for Davis and should soon have eligibility at both outfield and first base. Going into Friday’s games, the 30-year-old veteran had a nine-game hit streak and over that span is hitting .361 with two homers, six RBIs and an OPS of 1.008. Markakis is still available in about 48 percent of ESPN leagues.
Fantasy Team Name of the Week: With or Without Yu