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New York Yankees to skip Michael Pineda’s next start

By Nick Ziegler

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The New York Yankees have decided to skip Michael Pineda’s next scheduled start.

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When a pitcher has his start skipped, there is usually panic that he is hurt, but for Pineda, it is just to help limit his innings.

“We’re going to skip Michael Pineda one start, and it’s only because of innings,’’ manager Joe Girardi said to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “This is a guy that hasn’t thrown a lot of innings since 2011. He probably threw maybe at most 100 last year. In 2011, he threw 171. So with these days off, we feel like we can do that without overtaxing the other pitchers.

“It has nothing to do with ‘Is there something bothering him?’ No. We just felt this is probably the best time to do it. It becomes very tough to do it when you’re in a long stretch of games, because you don’t have enough starters. So, this is the time to do it.’’

Pineda was supposed to be pitching on Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Angels, but instead it will be CC Sabathia taking the mound.

This season, Pineda has been the Yankees’ ace. So far, Pineda has totaled a 7-2 record, 3.33 ERA, and 76 strikeouts. The Yankees’ main concern about Pineda is the amount of innings he has thrown. In 2015, Pineda has thrown 70.1 innings, and last season he only threw 76.1 innings.

There hasn’t been a number put on Pineda’s innings this season, but the Yankees do want to protect the talented 26-year-old.

“We don’t [have a limit]. We just know we’ve got different guys we’ve got to find ways to protect,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said to Lewis. “There are other avenues to do it with a full complement, everybody healthy. You could always play with a six-man rotation [when Ivan] Nova is back and everybody’s in line. But we’re just trying to find ways to manage it properly, so it keeps that full tank of gas and fatigue doesn’t set in too easily, because once fatigue sets in, injuries can happen.’’

Pineda’s career-high of innings pitched in a season was back in 2011 with the Seattle Mariners, when he threw 170.1 innings. At this pace, Pineda is on pace for 211 innings. In addition to skipping his start Sunday, Girardi also said the Yankees could look to get Pineda some more rest around the All-Star break in July.

The Yankees have a very good chance of winning the AL East this season, and the hope is to keep their team healthy throughout the season to achieve that goal.

Next: Where are the Yankees in our MLB Power Rankings?

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