Michael Pineda Banned 60-games

[PeachyRockinGal]

From MSN sports:

Twins' Pineda banned 60 games for violating drug policy

Pineda....


From injuries and pine tar on the neck in New York...…. to a resurgence with Minnesota..... to substance violations.
Jeebus.
An already thin Twins pitching rotation gets even thinner.

And at 60 games, it means Pineda will not only be sitting on the side lines down the stretch this season, but also for the entirety of the playoffs.
WTG, Michael, WTG.
And to think, I was applauding this guy's contributions to the Minnesota Twins, and now he leaves his team in a lurch.

Pineda giveth...and Pineda taketh away....

 

[catman]

We're going to find out what Brusdar Graterol has left this season. He should get a start or 2 down the stretch.

 

[PeachyRockinGal]

We're going to find out what Brusdar Graterol has left this season. He should get a start or 2 down the stretch.

Hey, @catman how are ya?

I also wonder if, because Kyle Gibson is down as well, whether guys like Randy Dobnok or Devin Smeltzer (who pitched pretty well in the spots he was given) will get opportunities to start as well.

As good as the Twins starting rotation has been 1-5 all year, I often feared the depth..... one or two pitchers go down from it (Gibson, Pineda) and what do the Twins have left?
Like you said....we are going to find out some things now...

 

[PeachyRockinGal]

Also occurred to me.... Pineda may be done entirely as a Minnesota Twin.

I believe he is a UFA after this season and of course, his 60 games will carry over into next season, so he will have to wait that out for any team to even be able to sign him.
I doubt the Twins will have the patience, nor the inclination, to want to try and get him back.

Pineda will face an uphill battle to try and get back into the pretty good form he was in this season. And that includes important things like playing shape, weight, as well as his sharpness.

 

[catman]

@PeachyRockinGal , I'm doing pretty well. Shoulder surgery last fall so I can't pitch again for a while, and probably more back surgery soon, but not bad for a senior citizen.
As to Pineda, I doubt if anyone will take a chance on him again. He has talent, but seems to need to bend the rules to get it to show. Some of the young guys will have to step up and show the league what they have, and Berrios is going to have to get stronger to make it through a full season. He has great stuff, but runs out of gas in August. I would like to see Odorizzi come back, even with the 4-5 year contract he'll want. He has really good stuff. The Twins also have Perez coming back.

 

[catman]

As it turns out, Pineda was suspended for using a substance that I administer regularly. Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic that is frequently prescribed for blood pressure control. My wife took it for about 20 years. If he was taking it to control his blood pressure, he could have gotten a waiver for it from the league. Similar to Chris Davis' suspension for using Adderall, the waiver process is time consuming, but reasonable. Had both of these players taken the time to do things correctly, they would not have gotten suspended. Had they gotten the prescriptions through their team Drs, they would have been fine.