It has turned out to be “Shutdown Saturday” with the Mariners.
Minnesota right-hander Nick Blackburn snuffed the Mariners on two hits — both in the first inning — in a 1-0 Twins victory.
After the game, there was more shutdown news delivered by general manager Jack Zduriencik. He announced that star minor leaguer Michael Pineda has thrown his final pitch this season because he has reached the innings limit the club had set early in the year.
Pineda has made 25 starts and pitched 139 1/3 innings between Class AA West Tennessee and Class AAA Tacoma this season.
“The simple reason is because of innings,” Zduriencik said. “We had gauged that he would pitch between 140 and 150 innings this year. This is a prized product of ours and this is a guy we want to protect.”
Zduriencik said Pineda’s past two starts, when he struggled, weren’t factors in the decision. Pineda allowed eight hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings of Tacoma’s game Thursday, and that followed an eight-hit, four-run performance over 4 1/3 innings. He has never pitched more than 138 1/3 innings in his minor league career and, because of arm problems, was limited to 47 1/3 last year.
“There’s nothing physically wrong at all,” Zduriencik said. “It’s strictly an innings issue and we figure it’s the best thing to do for our future and his future. Should we have given him another start, he may have jumped back in and done some of the things that we saw a few weeks back. From the very beginning we talked about (between) 140 and 150 innings. One more outing is not going to make or break this kid’s career. From our standpoint, this is the right thing to do.”
Zduriencik said Pineda, a 21-year-old who mixes a high-90 mph fastball with a sharp-breaking slider, will continue to work out with the Tacoma Rainiers until the end of their season, then possibly spend some time in September with the Mariners before reporting to the month-long fall instructional program in Peoria, Ariz.
When Pineda returns to spring training next February, Zduriencik said he’ll get a chance to make the Mariners’ 2011 starting rotation.
“When he comes into camp, that should be the mindset he has,” Zduriencik said. “We’ve seen this kid dominate this year. He’s a young kid. You never know how a 22-year-old kid is going to react around a spring training setting and being around a big-league club. But, all the earmarks are there that this guy has a chance to have a very, very good future. We feel strongly that this guy is going to have a great shot to make our club.”
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