Pineda Solid in First Rehab Start

Injured Yankees Pitcher Michael Pineda was solid in his first rehab start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier today.

According to WFAN's Sweety Murti, Pineda, who's been out since April 23 with a shoulder problem, threw 3 1/3 shutout innings in the Railriders' game this afternoon against the Syracuse Chiefs (the Washington Nationals' affiliate), allowing just 3 hits and a walk during those frames.

Also included in the 58 pitch/37 strike performance were four strikeouts, or 40% of all the outs the youngster recorded.

Pineda, who went 2-2 with a 1.83 ERA with the Yanks before getting hurt this season, begins his 30 day rehab program today, one that should have him return to the majors some time in early September.

No, that probable date isn't one to get too excited about, but since it does give a timetable for when New York's rotation can become reliable again you can't help but appreciate its existence.

I mean, in the last couple of weeks each of the Yankees' starting hurlers have had at least one bad outing, something that we should only expect to continue as long as guys like Chris Capuano and Shane Greene are appearing every fifth day.