MLB Daily: Is Michael Pineda the Best Starter in the AL East?; Gordon Beckham Makes Hawk Happy
By Mike Cardillo
Welcome to a brief MLB Daily on a Monday. Try to contain your disdain/excitement …
Lopsided: Hindsight is always 20/20, but in wake of Michael Pineda’s 16-strikeout performance vs. the Orioles on Sunday, it’s worth remembering the trade that sent him to the Bronx and Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to Seattle. Montero, in short, has been a bust and the Mariners clearly overrated his four home runs in 18 games back in 2011, forgetting new Yankee Stadium is a launching pad whereas Safeco Field can be an offensive graveyard.
The trade wasn’t looking all that awful for Seattle until this season. Pineda didn’t pitch for the Yankees until 2014 and all told has only made 20 starts, where he sports a 2.20 ERA. Still you wonder why Seattle was so quick to part with him after his rookie season where he finish fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. A lot happened in the interim, but a 1-2 punch of Felix Hernandez — who picked up his 2,000th career strikeout over the weekend — and Pineda would have looked nice in the Pacific Northwest.
This sounds odd, at first thought, but right now is Pineda the best (healthy) starting pitcher in the American League East? The only other contender is Tampa’s Chris Archer. The best overall pitcher in the division at the moment is probably either Andrew Miller or Dellin Betances.
Here’s how Yankees play-by-ply guy Michael Kay described Pineda on Sunday:
Yes!: The surest sign you’re losing your mind is that you now enjoy Hawk Harrelson.
Gordon Beckham singling off Aroldis Chapman for a walk-off win is another daily reminder that baseball is impossible to predict.
ICYMI: I took a much-needed respite from social media and the Internet most of the weekend — try it, life goes on without comment on every single thing that happens. Honest. Anyways, late Friday night Jered Weaver looked about ready to murder someone after pitching a shutout. The GIF that Shamburger made is so good, I’m running it again. Deal with it.
The power of strikes compels you: It appears even Andrew McCutchen himself is taking notice of his slow start to the 2015 season.
The Pirates won two straight over the weekend vs. the the Cardinals to claw within a game of .500.
Quirky: I was playing with ESPN’s stat totals this morning and wanted to check Bryce Harper’s home run-per-at bat ratio, but when I clicked it initially gave me the lowest total, which is 131-to-1, oddly shared by Matt Kemp and Nori Aoki.
Stay Up Late: If you like baseball or are a fan of the Tigers or Royals, you didn’t miss much if you choose to watch Game of Thrones, Mad Men or whatever else on Sunday night. The ESPN game endured a 1:40 minute rain delay at the start of the bottom of the ninth with the score 1-1 following a rare, crafty righty pitcher’s duel between Chris Young and Shane Greene. The Tigers loaded the bases in both the ninth and 10th but couldn’t score, while the Royals won on an Omar Infante sac-fly. Curt Schilling sounded crankier than usual after play resumed well past midnight.
This and That: Josh Hamilton faced off against Barry Zito in a Pacific Coast League game on Sunday. Weird. … Props to Cincy shortstop Zack Cozart, whom I picked as an LVP back in March. He’s already surpassed his 2014 home run total with five and sports a 150 OPS+ after finishing with an enemic 60 in the category last year. … Tampa took a dual hit over the last couple days losing both Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly to injuries that will likely cost them both the rest of 2015. … Mets at Cubs should be a fun series starting tonight.
[It’s Monday, sigh]