Yankees: Michael Pineda Continues to Struggle

Pineda NYT

On Tuesday night in Arizona, the New York Yankees and starter Michael Pineda took the field in hopes to even the series against the Diamondbacks.

Well, that was not the case. The Yankees lost the game 5-3 and Pineda’s struggles continued. The Yankees right-hander tossed five innings allowing five runs, nine hits and a walk before he was removed from the game. Pineda’s outing was a forgettable one as he dropped to 1-5 on the season with an ERA of 6.60.

“I know I’m better than that,” Pineda said to reporters following the game. “Right now, I’m having a really bad moment. I need to keep working hard and be better.”

Pineda has everyone in the Yankees organization confused and has not found a put away pitch. After getting ahead 0-2 in the count, opponents are hitting .302 against him.

“We’ll get it worked out,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after the game. “We have to get it worked out. He’s better than what he’s performed and we’ll get it straightened out.”

The Yankees are 2-6 in Pineda’s eight starts and need him to be better. In four of Pineda’s eight starts he has given up more than three earned runs including two starts that he has given up six.

Prior to the 2016 season, Pineda set a goal of reaching 200 innings. As of now, Pineda hasn’t thrown a pitch in the seventh inning and opponents are hitting .384 on balls in play against him.

The Yankees are currently 16-22 and sit in last place of the AL East.