Michael Pineda, out for the season with a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder, said Tuesday that he "will come back real strong" and expects to be ready when the New York Yankees open Spring Training in 2013.
Pineda, of course, is the highly-touted 23-year-old right-handed starting pitcher for whom the Yankees dealt top hitting prospect Jesus Montero to the Seattle Mariners. Pineda did not make it through his first Spring Training with New York.
He spoke Tuesday with Sweeny Murti of WFAN. [Complete Transcript]
Pineda told Murti he does not know when he first hurt the shoulder. He said the injury was simply "the life of a baseball player."
"I think the first time (I felt something was) my last start in spring training. I tried to throw hard and I felt pain in my shoulder," Pineda said. "I rested for a couple days and then when I started to play catch again I was feeling really good. But when I threw hard again I could feel pain again."
There was concern throughout the spring that Pineda's velocity was down from the 97 mph he often reached in 2011, and some thought possibly Pineda had reported to Spring Training out of shape. He said that was not the case.
"I do the same thing every off-season. I did the same routine," he said.