Bet you've never seen a guy strike out the side, three innings in a row, and get yanked after five for it?  Me either.

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86 pitches and done.  Corroborates our suspicion that Swamp-Thing is battling through a bit of fatigue. 

That, or the Rainiers, River Cats, Zduriencik, and/or all of minor league baseball finally realized that there was no more point in his pitching to minor-league hitters.  Has never been any point, actually.  (For those just joining us, Zduriencik was reportedly at the game to "scout" Pineda -- whale of a cheek this guy has, blowing off SSI's crystal-clear reports -- and was spared the sight of the Safeco melodrama.)

You do have to see the humor in Frankenstein going out there, blowing down nine guys in three innings, and then being pulled after 86 pitches.  Reminds you of Peyton Manning getting yanked at halftime in preseason...

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Here is a River Cats' point-of-view (Robbie Enos / Sacramento River Cats LOL) that grudgingly acknowledges "Mega Pineda" and his "unreal strikeout show."

Pineda now with 42 strikeouts in 34 innings, and, given PCL umping, defense, and scouting reports, that's about the best saber you're going to get on him, is the 11 strikeouts per 9.

For those just realizing who Pineda is - it's important to understand that other glamor pitchers don't (typically) fan 11 men per nine in the upper minor leagues.

Clayton Kershaw fanned 9 per game in AA.

CC Sabathia fanned the same once he got to AA/AAA:  one guy an inning.

David Price, right at a batter per inning.

OK, Felix his ownself did get to 10 men per nine innings.  But that's because he was the greatest pitching prospect since Dwight Gooden.

You can find a few -- Matt Cain went from 7.5 strikeouts to almost 11, right before he landed in the NL as one of its very best pitchers.

That's not an official study, no - it's just illustrative of what minors-followers will be aware of.  Pineda is manhandling the PCL not like you'd expect Max Scherzer or Brad Lincoln or Brandon Morrow or Luke Hochevar to do. 

Pineda is not doing the PCL like you'd expect a #2 overall pick to do.  He's racking up strike threes like you'd expect Tim Lincecum or Stephen Strasburg to do.

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But the PCL results aren't the point.  The intersection of command and velocity is the point.  There will never come a time when human beings can beat Curt Schilling.

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