去年因为手肘受伤，丢不到五十局就动手术的Michael Pineda，本季 用快得让我们反应不过来的速度，一路冲上 AAA。成为水手继King之 後最让水手迷期待的投手新秀。季前在各家顶尖新秀看不到的他，已 经注定在各家更新的顶尖新秀名单中，占据前三十名其中一个位置。 他能不能跟King成为水手新世代的 1-2 punch？Jason A. Churchill 的这篇文章，会让水手迷对这位21岁的新希望更加期待。 老样子，谢谢 andynanpa贤拜指点几个地方，特此致谢！ ===========================本文开始=========================== 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是一个高六尺五寸，190磅的右投手。有着勉强算是平均水准的 四缝线直球、太频繁使用且用力太过的滑球、偶而让人眼睛为之一亮，可以当作夺三振必 杀武器的变速球，尽管他成功的原因有很大一部份是因为面对1A那些缺乏经验的打者。 Today, none of the above is true, except Pineda happens to remain right-handed. 然而到了现在，除了Pineda是个右投这一点没有改变以外，以上所提到的全都不一样了。 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现在是一位6尺7寸，225磅—增重25磅对原本偏瘦的他是件好事--，有着Mid 90mph 速球的右投手。跟三年前比较，他滑球速度与速球速度之间的差距变大了（意思是三年前 他的滑球丢得太用力，跟他快速球的速度差距不大，过了三年，他的滑球相较於他的速球 有变慢的趋势），变速球与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，虽然所有可怕的事在大联盟持续发生—这是一件很可怕的事，或许就如同事件本身 一样可怕，但是对Pineda而言，发生在他身上的事已经不必再多抱怨什麽。 "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." 「他的变速球与快速指叉球相当类似。」 Tacoma Rainiers投手教练，有着12年经验的前 大联盟退休右投Jaime Navarro说。「他的变速球有86、87mph，有时候达到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." 这的确是Splitter的速度，但Pineda用投出他的circle-change时，能达到86-87 mph；当 他投出下沉轨迹的splitter时，也能达到88-89 mph。「当快速球能丢到98 mph的时候，」 Navarro继续说着：「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在这一季的进步之大如同巨人的步伐一般，主要原因是来自於他球速的跃进，他在 09年季末的球速才在91~94 mph之间游走。这麽大的进步是怎麽来的呢？有一些要归因於 Pineda投球姿势的改进，但是他在投手丘上的态度与成熟，可能才是本季他成为小联盟最 佳投手新秀-只是或许-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." 「他的投球动作变得更好，而且他持续保持成长，这些原因已足以说明他的进步。」 Navarro说：「去年球季结束後，我们要求他回到多明尼加後，不要做任何有关棒球的活 动，这项要求一直到十一月才解除。先从长传开始做起，两个礼拜以後，才让他开始尝试 在短距离内更用力投球。他做到我们对他的一切要求，他也没有询问为什麽他需要如此专 注在这几个步骤上。」 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. 这几项措施以及Pineda专注在这些步骤的态度，在这个球季获得了巨大的回报，使他能在 今年二月丢出high-90 mph的速球。类似这样让人期望得到的表现，在Pineda进行各项春 训後不断发生，让球队十分兴奋；Pineda在本球季开始後的四个月内，将自己推进到离大 联盟只剩寸步之遥的位置。 We'll get back to that. 我们得回了那位我们期待已久并且本该是如此的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可当作武器的球路—四缝线直球、low 80～mid 80 mph的滑球、85-89 mph的 split-change（意思就是可以当作splitter也可以当作changeup，因为十分相似）--已然 近乎大成。好消息是四种球路还不算成套，因为第五种球路也即将加入。 Pineda is "working on a cutter right now," Navarro said. (He) throws five per game and it's about 90-91 mph. 「Pineda现在正在练习cutter。」 Navarro说：「他在每场比赛里要丢五颗cutter，球速 大约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是最容易学习的球路之一，一部份是因为cutter的握法与一般快速球十分相似，只 要再更用力的握住球的一边即可。如果Pineda可以将cutter练成他另一种有效的武器，我 个人对於那些「Pineda的天花板不是球队王牌投手等级」这类的评论就十分怀疑了。 Cutter常做为对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." 「他能够使用cutter对付任何一位打者」一位坐在观众席上的美联球探说道，他在礼拜一 晚上前来观看Pineda的先发表现：「如果你能看清这一点，那你就能预估他的天花板在那 个地方」 Currently, on the 20-80 scouting scale, I would rank Pineda's tool box as follows: 目前在20-80 scouting评监表中，我会对Pineda的武器球种做出以下的评分： 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. 从他已经练出MLB平均水准的3种球路的表现, 你可以看到他已经完全和他的伤势说再见 - 甚至跨越了一大步. 在Keith Law更新的前25名顶尖新秀, Pineda投下了震撼弹 ---> 他被排在第25。尽管这些结果已经公布，Pineda依然持续进步，表现出更棒的slider— Navarro说：「他的slider越来越好…应该是他目前最棒的球种」--并且他能将他的各种 球路投进好球带，有时他甚至能丢出 50~55 此种等级的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，还有 Atlanta的Julio Teheran 及Arodys Vizcaino。多数被列入这份名单—并不是全部—的小 联盟投手新秀，因为有着比其他投手新秀更好更出色的天份而入选 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. 就我个人而言，我会将Pineda放在Britton、Gibson、Vizcaino及Miller之前，甚至会因 为这孩子多的3年职业经验将他放在Matzek前面，虽然他跟Hellickson及Lyles相当类似， 但是我无论如何都不会想要交易Pineda，并且在很长一段时间内我都不需要考虑到这个问 题。 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在本季的投球局数已经达到了117局，相较於他2008年生涯最高投球局数只超过了 约20局。去年他因为手肘手术的缘故，只丢了不到50局，不过他受伤的地方是在关节後方 ，而不是在需要动UCL或Tommy John这类可能终结投手生涯的地方，在礼拜一的短暂先发 後，他的投球局数跟去年相比，将会超过大约70局，而到达警戒点。 "We have to keep him under 140," Navarro said. "Then you shut him down." 「我们会将他本季局数控制在140局以下，」Navarro说：「然後就让他休息」 Plain and simple. 简单明了。 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. 这个计画表示不论Pineda本季是否会开始他的大联盟生涯，礼拜一将是他本季在Tacoma最 後一场先发，然後他接下来的角色将会以牛棚的角色上场，不论是在大联盟或是Tacoma。 这个计画继续被确认并且将会执行。 "We are trying to plan for the future, not just next year," Navarro said. "We're looking long term." 「我们试着在规划他的未来，而不只是明年而已」Navarro说：「我们看的是长远的计画 」 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接着表示或许他们会继续将Pineda放在先发位置上，而将他的先发间隔多个一天 或两天，这个方式将会被实行。 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确定的：离Pineda成为Felix Hernandez轮值伙伴的时间已经不 远了。而当他被召上来时, 那些不看好他的声音将会出现得更频繁，不过我相信Pineda的 表现会让这些声音消失。 --

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