去年因為手肘受傷，丟不到五十局就動手術的Michael Pineda，本季
用快得讓我們反應不過來的速度，一路衝上 AAA。成為水手繼King之
後最讓水手迷期待的投手新秀。季前在各家頂尖新秀看不到的他，已
經註定在各家更新的頂尖新秀名單中，佔據前三十名其中一個位置。
他能不能跟King成為水手新世代的 1-2 punch？Jason A. Churchill
的這篇文章，會讓水手迷對這位21歲的新希望更加期待。
老樣子，謝謝 andynanpa賢拜指點幾個地方，特此致謝！
============本文開始================
http://prospectinsider.com/view/michael-pineda:-maybe-an-ace/
By Jason A. Churchill
TACOMA -- Three years ago Michael Pineda was a 6-foot-5, 190-pound right-hander employing a four-seam fastball with fringe-average velocity, a slider that was thrown too hard too often and a changeup that registered a plus at times, and was his go-to-pitch with two strikes, despite its success being largely due to the inexperienced bats he faced in Class-A ball.
三年前，Michael Pineda是一個高六尺五吋，190磅的右投手。有著勉強算是平均水準的四縫線直球、太頻繁使用且用力太過的滑球、偶而讓人眼睛為之一亮，可以當作奪三振必殺武器的變速球，儘管他成功的原因有很大一部份是因為面對1A那些缺乏經驗的打者。
Today, none of the above is true, except Pineda happens to remain right-handed.
然而到了現在，除了Pineda是個右投這一點沒有改變以外，以上所提到的全都不一樣了。
Instead, he now stands 6-foot-7 and weighs in at more than 215 pounds -- a good 25-pound add to his lanky frame -- and sits in the mid-90s with his fastball. His slider has slowed down, relative to his fastball velocity, and his changeup has fallen behind a bit.
Pineda現在是一位6呎7吋，225磅—增重25磅對原本偏瘦的他是件好事--，有著Mid 90mph速球的右投手。跟三年前比較，他滑球速度與速球速度之間的差距變大了（意思是三年前他的滑球丟得太用力，跟他快速球的速度差距不大，過了三年，他的滑球相較於他的速球有變慢的趨勢），變速球與速球的速差就稍微小了一些。
But, despite all the ugly things going on in the big leagues -- and it is ugly, perhaps as ugly as ugly gets -- there isn't much about which to complain when it comes to Mr. Pineda.
然而，雖然所有可怕的事在大聯盟持續發生—這是一件很可怕的事，或許就如同事件本身一樣可怕，但是對Pineda而言，發生在他身上的事已經不必再多抱怨什麼。
「The changeup is like a splitter，」 said Tacoma Rainiers pitching coach and former 12-year MLB veteran right-hander Jaime Navarro. 「It's 86-87, sometimes 88 or 89。」
「他的變速球與快速指叉球相當類似。」 Tacoma Rainiers投手教練，有著12年經驗的前大聯盟退休右投Jaime Navarro說。「他的變速球有86、87mph，有時候達到88、89mph」
That's true split-finger velocity, but Pineda throws the pitch with a circle-change grip -- it works well at 86-87 and when he gets the splitter-like sink on the pitch, it works at 89, too. "When the fastball is 98," Navarro continued, "89 is a changeup."
這的確是Splitter的速度，但Pineda用投出他的circle-change時，能達到86-87 mph；當他投出下沉軌跡的splitter時，也能達到88-89 mph。「當快速球能丟到98 mph的時候，」 Navarro繼續說著：「89mph的球就是changeup。」
Pineda's taken a gigantic step forward this season, led by the jump in velocity, last clocked in the 91-94 mph range late in 2009. Where did the jump come from? Some of it is due to Pineda's physical development, but his work ethic and maturity might be the biggest reason he's turned into perhaps the top pitching prospect in all of baseball.
Pineda在這一季的進步之大如同巨人的步伐一般，主要原因是來自於他球速的躍進，他在09年季末的球速才在91~94 mph之間遊走。這麼大的進步是怎麼來的呢？有一些要歸因於Pineda投球姿勢的改進，但是他在投手丘上的態度與成熟，可能才是本季他成為小聯盟最佳投手新秀-只是或許-的原因。
"His body language is better, he's growing, and that says a lot," said Navarro. "After last season, we told him to head home to the Dominican Republic, don't do anything (baseball related), nothing, until November. Then start throwing long toss. (After) Two more weeks, then start throwing harder from short. He did everything. he didn't ask why, showed he was dedicated."
「他的投球動作變得更好，而且他持續保持成長，這些原因已足以說明他的進步。」 Navarro說：「去年球季結束後，我們要求他回到多明尼加後，不要做任何有關棒球的活動，這項要求一直到十一月才解除。先從長傳開始做起，兩個禮拜以後，才讓他開始嘗試在短距離內更用力投球。他做到我們對他的一切要求，他也沒有詢問為什麼他需要如此專注在這幾個步驟上。」
That work and dedicated approach is paying off big time, as he showed up in February touching the upper-90s. Such radar readings invoked all kinds of spring training excitement, and Pineda has used the first four months of the season to put himself in position to see the big leagues very soon.
這幾項措施以及Pineda專注在這些步驟的態度，在這個球季獲得了巨大的回報，使他能在今年二月丟出high-90 mph的速球。類似這樣讓人期望得到的表現，在Pineda進行各項春訓後不斷發生，讓球隊十分興奮；Pineda在本球季開始後的四個月內，將自己推進到離大聯盟只剩寸步之遙的位置。
We'll get back to that.
我們得回了那位我們期待已久並且本該是如此的Pineda。
Pineda's arsenal -- four-seamer, slider in the low-to-mid 80s, 85-89 mph split-change -- now has company. It's a good thing four's not a crowd, because here comes another offering.
Pineda可當作武器的球路—四縫線直球、low 80～mid 80 mph的滑球、85-89 mph的split-change（意思就是可以當作splitter也可以當作changeup，因為十分相似）--已然近乎大成。好消息是四種球路還不算成套，因為第五種球路也即將加入。
Pineda is "working on a cutter right now," Navarro said. (He) throws five per game and it's about 90-91 mph.
「Pineda現在正在練習cutter。」 Navarro說：「他在每場比賽裡要丟五顆cutter，球速大約90-91 mph」
A cut fastball is one of the easier pitches to learn to throw, partly because it's done with such a similar grip as a fastball, but with more pressure placed on one side of the ball. If Pineda turns this opportunity into another useful pitch, I'm not sure his ceiling is not of ace status. The cutter is often an equalizer against hitters of the opposite hand, such as the manner in which Mariano Rivera or Jordan Danks utilizes it.
Cutter是最容易學習的球路之一，一部份是因為cutter的握法與一般快速球十分相似，只要再更用力的握住球的一邊即可。如果Pineda可以將cutter練成他另一種有效的武器，我個人對於那些「Pineda的天花板不是球隊王牌投手等級」這類的評論就十分懷疑了。Cutter常做為對抗左打者的有效武器，Mariano Rivera及Jordan Danks都是擅投cutter的典型代表。
"He'll be able to use it against anyone," said an AL scout in attendance to see Pineda's start Monday night. "If you locate that thing, it's nearly hit proof."
「他能夠使用cutter對付任何一位打者」一位坐在觀眾席上的美聯球探說道，他在禮拜一晚上前來觀看Pineda的先發表現：「如果你能看清這一點，那你就能預估他的天花板在那個地方」
Currently, on the 20-80 scouting scale, I would rank Pineda's tool box as follows:
目前在20-80 scouting評鑑表中，我會對Pineda的武器球種做出以下的評分：
Fastball -- 75
Slider -- 55
Changeup -- 45
Cutter -- 40
Control/Command -- 65
Delivery/Mechanics – 60
You can see how far he's come from having three average-ish pitches and a track record of injury -- leaps and bounds. In Keith Law's updated Top 25 prospect list Pineda ranked at No. 25. Since those were published, Pineda has roared on, shown a much better slider -- Navarro says "the slider is getting better and better ... might be his best pitch ..." -- and has pounded the strike zone with everything, even flashing a 50 or 55 changeup at times.
從他已經練出MLB平均水準的3種球路的表現，你可以看到他已經完全和他的傷勢說再見 - 甚至跨越了一大步。在Keith Law更新的前25名頂尖新秀, Pineda投下了震撼彈 --->他被排在第25。儘管這些結果已經公布，Pineda依然持續進步，表現出更棒的slider—Navarro說：「他的slider越來越好…應該是他目前最棒的球種」--並且他能將他的各種球路投進好球帶，有時他甚至能丟出 50~55 此種等級的changeup。
The arms ranked ahead of Pineda on the list included Tampa's Jeremy Hellickson, Houston's Jordan Lyles, Texas Rangers lefty Martin Perez, Aroldis Chapman of Cincinnati, Boston's Casey Kelly, St. Louis right-hander Shelby Miller, Rockies southpaw Tyler Matzek, Baltimore's Zach Britton, Minnesota's Kyle Gibson, Philly's Jarrod Cosart and Atlanta's Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino. Scratch most of them -- if not all of them -- off the list of better starting pitching talent below big-league baseball.
排名在Pineda之前的投手新秀包含有Tampa的 Jeremy Hellickson、 Houston的Jordan Lyles、Texas Rangers的左投Martin Perez,、Cincinnati的 Aroldis Chapman、Boston的 Casey Kelly、St. Louis的右投手Shelby Miller、Rockies左投Tyler Matzek、Baltimore的Zach Britton、Minnesota的 Kyle Gibson、Philly的Jarrod Cosart，還有Atlanta的Julio Teheran 及Arodys Vizcaino。多數被列入這份名單—並不是全部—的小聯盟投手新秀，因為有著比其他投手新秀更好更出色的天份而入選
Personally, I'd certainly place Pineda ahead of Britton, Gibson, Vizcaino and Miller, perhaps even Matzek due to the attrition concern with a teenage kid three-plus years from the majors, and despite liking Hellickson and Lyles quite a bit, I wouldn't trade Pineda for either, and I don't need to think about that question for very long.
就我個人而言，我會將Pineda放在Britton、Gibson、Vizcaino及Miller之前，甚至會因為這孩子多的3年職業經驗將他放在Matzek前面，雖然他跟Hellickson及Lyles相當類似，但是我無論如何都不會想要交易Pineda，並且在很長一段時間內我都不需要考慮到這個問題。
Pineda's at 117 innings for the season, just over 20 shy of his career high set in 2008. He threw fewer than 50 frames a year ago due to an elbow injury -- the injury, however, was in the back of the joint, not in the area where UCL/Tommy John surgery would be the end result -- and has built 70 or so innings on top of that prior to Monday's outing.
Pineda在本季的投球局數已經達到了117局，相較於他2008年生涯最高投球局數只超過了約20局。去年他因為手肘手術的緣故，只丟了不到50局，不過他受傷的地方是在關節後方，而不是在需要動UCL或Tommy John這類可能終結投手生涯的地方，在禮拜一的短暫先發後，他的投球局數跟去年相比，將會超過大約70局，而到達警戒點。
"We have to keep him under 140," Navarro said. "Then you shut him down."
「我們會將他本季局數控制在140局以下，」Navarro說：「然後就讓他休息」
Plain and simple.
簡單明瞭。
Such a plan might mean Monday will be Pineda's final start in Triple-A Tacoma, whether he heads to the big leagues and starts, is put in the big-league bullpen or heads to the 'pen for the Rainiers remains to be decided.
這個計畫表示不論Pineda本季是否會開始他的大聯盟生涯，禮拜一將是他本季在Tacoma最後一場先發，然後他接下來的角色將會以牛棚的角色上場，不論是在大聯盟或是Tacoma。這個計畫繼續被確認並且將會執行。
“We are trying to plan for the future, not just next year," Navarro said. "We're looking long term."
「我們試著在規劃他的未來，而不只是明年而已」Navarro說：「我們看的是長遠的計畫」
Navarro went on to say that maybe they will start backing up Pineda, pushing an extra day or two between his starts, and that such a concept will begin soon.
Navarro接著表示或許他們會繼續將Pineda放在先發位置上，而將他的先發間隔多個一天或兩天，這樣的想法將會被實行。
But one thing is for sure -- there isn't much time left for Felix Hernandez's future rotation mate. But once he arrives, it's going to be ugly for the opposition a little more often than before he's summoned from the minors.
但是有一件事情是可以被確定的：離Pineda成為Felix Hernandez輪值伙伴的時間已經不遠了。而當他被召上來時, 那些不看好他的聲音將會出現得更頻繁，不過我相信Pineda的表現會讓這些聲音消失。
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