Pineda has 3 things potentially keeping him from demolishing the AL:
1) Stamina: can he throw 200 innings a year? He's had an elbow/forearm issue in the minors already, and he's a biiig guy who puts a lot of torque on his arm. Even if it's made of rubber, it's a concern that injuries will take their toll.
2) Motion: Will his motion be dissected by the pros in video and lead to him tipping his pitches to such a degree that he can't get guys out like he could in the minors? And will some of the awkwardness of that motion lead to problems with #1?
3) Lefties: Even Felix was decidedly average results-wise in his first full year as a pro across the board. Lefties have always gotten the better of him, though recently he finally learned how to pitch to them after several years in the bigs. Pineda vs. RHBs should be a cinch. His results vs. lefties will determine his usefulness in every start, instead of just having a monster against lineups stacked with righties.
None of those things says he can't do what we believe he is capable of: dominating in the bigs. I remember the "is Felix tipping his pitches" conversations, as well as the panning of him nationally in his first couple of years because the results weren't there. "You called THIS GUY The King? Really?"
Yes, really. And Pineda has a similarly ridiculous arm. I'm not gonna hold it against him if it takes him a couple of years to dominate lefties. Or if he goes out for a couple weeks with forearm soreness, as Felix has done before.
The idea is to limit expectations. Could he rocket out of the gate like Liriano? Sure. But I don't structure my hopes for the season on betting that he will. If he puts up a middling ERA and stays healthy all year I can live with that.
I don't consider "he'll have more trouble with lefties" to be a slight or a slam, just more of a reminder.
From day one he should annihilate right-handed hitters. The rest of his game is a work in progress, and that should be remembered, that's all.
~G
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