He didn't treat like his wipeout pitch too often...but he did use it as a set-up pitch very effectively. There were a few spots where I was expecting slider and got a fastball fouled back to waste another pitch...a bit annoying...but I do think that he was as effective as he was with a slightly-off fastball because he was using the slider as a good set-up weapon.
As for the rest...I enjoyed the way he seemed to bear down when they got two on twice in this game. In the second, he was screwed over a bit by thbe ump's tight zone and walked the first two men (requiring 17 pitches...ugh) and responded by freezing the next two hitters 0-2 on perfectly located fastballs and sliders...better command than he'd shown all night. In the sixth, he tried to go easy on his arm and they squared him up twice...the pitching coach gave him a nice little chat while the bullpen got busy, perhaps they were thinking he was tired...which he probably was...and he bore down one more time and threw 98 four times in the last three hitters and 97 several other times. When it's going to be his last inning, he seems to know how to finish it.
I am now fully convinced that he is capable of the consistency that I needed to see for myself. I knew he was going to be capable of domination right away...my only degree of freedom for doubt was whether he could consistently command the fastball and the slider every start (more or less)...I believe that he can and will. Therefore...I will now be unafraid to call him "El Nino" and assume victory on his start days. :)
Q. What was SSI's defining moment?
A. My favorite moment was after pitch three above:
- Top of the fifth, Pineda leading by a skinny 1-0 margin
- Leadoff hitter had singled off Pineda's leg (Kouzmanoff, 96 mph)
- Pineda started Pennington off 0-1
Pineda came back with a gorgeous slider on the hands, getting plenty of the plate (pitch 2 above). The ump called it a ball. (Brooks says that the ump took 8-9 strikes from Pineda and gave him back 0, or 1, strikes outside the zone.)
Pineda, nonplussed, came back 95 inside and hands-high, a pitch that simply cannot be hit by anybody, any time, any era. You try getting the barrel of your bat to a pitch on the knob of it...
The ump also called this a ball, putting Pennington in the driver's seat 2-1, when Pennington should have been back on the bench with a strikeout.
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Q. How is that defining?
A. After the ump called that game-altering pitch a ball, Pineda took a step forward to the ump, holding both hands out, "where do you want it?" Not in a confrontational way: in a conversational way.
As you know, this is always followed by the ump ripping his mask off and charging around the catcher to engage...
Not this time. This time, the ump smiled -- not a smirk, but a nice smile -- and discreetly hooked his thumb to the umpire's right. "It was inside, Michael," was the message.
............
Ron Luciano used to describe games that he would ump with a Catfish Hunter type on the mound. Luciano said he would become part of a four-man dance on a major league field. Luciano was proud that he could guess the pitches ...
The catcher (Thurman Munson?) would call for a deuce. The pitcher (Catfish) would break it off and hit the mitt a bit outside. The hitter (Rod Carew) would just barely check his swing. The ump would professionally indicate ball one.
"A professional pitch. A professional take. A professional call," Luciano would say.
.............
Age 22, Pineda is entrancing even the umpires into the Luciano Dance. Only a few people get to step out onto that grass, you know...
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Q. Pineda's makeup is turning out to be plus, eh...
A. Wedge had a great way of putting it. "He doesn't let the game speed up on him out there."
That'll do for us too. Sixth inning, first two guys get on, Pineda's tempo doesn't change.
As Buhner puts it, something bad happens, Pineda steps off, takes a breath, visualizes, and attacks. Jay's words.
.........
Look at the way Pineda's pitches, above, dance around the HR danger zone, never touching it. Michael Pineda has a fully evolved pitching style and demeanor. The only thing 22 about him is his age.
We're not just delivering a blue-and-teal high kick with pom poms. Michael Pineda has a presence and a makeup that many ML veterans will never have.
Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens were never anything but bullies. When they were 15 years old, you know?
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Q. League catching on to the truth yet?
A. In the booth, Blowers and Buhner agreed "although it's only April, I've seen enough to know that Pineda is going to be a dominating pitcher in this league." You can be assured that their comments echo the book around the league.
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The idea that every RHP in the majors needs a great change or splitfinger, that is one-size-fits-all thinking. General principles cannot be applied without discretion.
Similarly, so is the idea that "you've got to see a pitcher the second time around the league." That's true only of the middle 80%. You don't need to see Tim Lincecum or Ian Snell for 300 innings to know what you have.
AL-only draft tomorrow? Pineda goes top 6 or 8 SP's. Because that is what he is. The M's have two Cy Young starters.
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Only four days to wait,
Dr D