Will Carroll: Michael Pineda vs. History

Michael Pineda’s been in the news because his fastball velocity, in his Grapefruit League debut, was down significantly from 2011. There was a wave of concern, followed by a wave of people instructing the concerned people to not be concerned. But here’s Will Carroll, concerned:

Worse, Pineda is headed to the Yankees, a team that simply has a poor record of getting young pitchers into their rotation and keeping them healthy. Along with Ivan Nova (24 last season), the 23-year-old Pineda is fighting history and probability as much as he will be the hitters of the AL East.

Carroll isn’t so concerned with Pineda’s reduced velocity. That doesn’t seem to be the issue. Rather, Carroll uses Pineda’s presence in the news as a jumping-off point to express concern about his new handlers. Carroll talks about the Yankees, and Joe Girardi, and Larry Rothschild, and he notes:

Girardi’s track record with young pitchers isn’t ideal, but he’s got a pitching coach to handle those sorts of things, right? The Yankees brought in Larry Rothschild two seasons ago but it wasn’t for his track record with young pitchers.

Basically, don’t necessarily be worried about Michael Pineda because his velocity was down. Be worried about Michael Pineda because he’s a young, hard-throwing pitcher surrounded by people with spotty track records.