Seattle Mariners Minor leagues (2005–2010) Pineda signed with the
Seattle Mariners of
Major League Baseball (MLB) at age 16 on December 12, 2005. He received a $35,000
signing bonus. while the Mariners organization named him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Wisconsin pitching coach
Jaime Navarro became Pineda's mentor. Pineda battled injuries during the 2009 season, missing most of the year due to elbow strain. He was 4–2 with a 2.84 ERA for the
High Desert Mavericks of the
Class A-Advanced California League while healthy and threw three shutout innings for the
Mariners of the Rookie-level
Arizona League. He struck out 52 in
innings pitched (IP) for the year. Before the 2010 season,
Baseball America ranked Pineda as the Mariners' sixth best prospect. Back in good health in 2010, Pineda was 8–1 with a 2.22 ERA for the
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx of the
Class-AA Southern League with 78 strikeouts and 17 walks in 77 IP and 3–3 with a 4.76 ERA for the
Tacoma Rainiers of the
Class-AAA Pacific Coast League with 76 strikeouts and 17 walks in IP. The Mariners front office ended his season when he reached 140 IP as a precaution against injury. The Mariners again named Pineda their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2010, and he was a finalist for the
USA Today Minor League Player of the Year.
Baseball America also rated him the sixteenth best prospect in all of baseball.
2011: MLB debut, All-Star |alt=A man in a blue shirt and grey pants with a white towel over his right shoulder walks on a baseball field. Pineda made the Mariners' starting rotation out of spring training 2011 as the number five starter, the third youngest player on a 2011 American League opening day roster after
Chris Sale and
Tim Collins. Pineda pitched innings, allowed two runs, struck out seven batters, and earned his first MLB win on April 12, 2011. Pineda struck out a career high nine batters against the
Detroit Tigers on April 28, including the first four batters he faced. He ended his first month in the majors with a 4–1 record and a 2.01 ERA. He was named
American League Rookie of the Month for April 2011, pitching at least six innings in his first five starts, giving up only 22 hits and 12 walks over innings, while striking out 30 opposing batters. Pineda was selected to the
All-Star Game on July 10 as a replacement for
Justin Verlander, who was ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game due to having pitched the day before the All-Star break. He was 8–6 at that point with a 3.03 ERA and 113 strikeouts and 36 walks in 113 innings. In the All-Star Game, Pineda pitched one perfect inning, striking out
Scott Rolen and
Rickie Weeks. Pineda finished the 2011 season with a 9–10 record and a 3.74 ERA. In 28 starts, he struck out 173 hitters while walking just 55 over 171 innings. Pineda struck out 24.9% of all batters faced, which was the third highest strikeout percentage in MLB. He also finished fifth in voting for
American League Rookie of the Year Award, behind
Jeremy Hellickson,
Mark Trumbo,
Eric Hosmer, and
Iván Nova, and ahead of teammate
Dustin Ackley, who finished sixth. After the season,
Keith Law ranked Pineda as the 20th best player under the age of 25.
New York Yankees 2012–2014 The Mariners traded Pineda to the
New York Yankees with
José Campos, for
Jesús Montero and
Héctor Noesí on January 13, 2012. Pineda was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his right shoulder at the culmination of spring training, causing him to miss the start of the 2012 season. During his rehabilitation, he suffered an anterior labral tear in his right shoulder. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on May 1, 2012, and was ruled out for the 2012 season. Pineda began the 2013 season on the 60-day DL as he was still recovering from the shoulder surgery. He was activated from the disabled list on July 8, 2013, and optioned to the minor leagues, where he pitched for the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA
International League. In six games pitched for the RailRiders, Pineda had a 1–1 record and a 3.86 ERA. Pineda competed for a spot in the Yankees'
starting rotation during spring training in 2014. He was named the Yankees' fifth starter towards the end of spring training. He made his first start for the Yankees on April 5, 2014. On April 10, during a start against the
Boston Red Sox, Boston broadcasters noticed a substance that appeared to be
pine tar on the palm of Pineda's pitching hand in the early innings of the game. Midway through Pineda's outing, the substance was wiped from his hand only to be added to his wrist. The umpires of the game were never notified and no action was taken against Pineda, who told reporters after the game that the substance on his hand was dirt. On April 23, 2014, during Pineda's next game against the Red Sox, Red Sox manager
John Farrell notified the umpires about pine tar on Pineda's neck, and he was ejected from the game in the second inning. Pineda was suspended for 10 games for the incident. He had a 1.83 ERA in innings pitched across his first four starts. Following inflammation experienced in late May, Pineda's return was pushed back to August. The Yankees activated Pineda to start on August 13. Pineda finished the season with a 5–5 record and a 1.89 ERA in innings.
2015–2017 Eligible for
salary arbitration for the first time, Pineda and the Yankees agreed on a $2.1 million salary for the 2015 season. On May 10, 2015, in a win against the
Baltimore Orioles, Pineda struck out a career-high 16 batters over seven innings while also walking none, breaking his previous career-high of 10 strikeouts in a single game. He also became the first pitcher since
Johan Santana in 2007 with 16 strikeouts and no walks in a single game. Pineda went on the disabled list on July 30 due to a strained flexor muscle in his right forearm. He finished the season with a 12–10 record and a 4.37 ERA in innings across 27 games started. In 2016, Pineda and the Yankees again agreed on a contract figure without going to arbitration. Pineda earned $4.3 million. Pineda finished the 2016 season with a 6–12 record and a career-worst 4.82 ERA. He made a career-high 32 starts, pitched a career-high innings and recorded a career-high 207 strikeouts while walking only 53. He led the American League with an average of 10.6
strikeouts per nine innings pitched. However, he also allowed 27
home runs. Pineda and the Yankees agreed on a $7.4 million salary for the 2017 season, his last before qualifying for
free agency. During the Yankees home opener against the
Tampa Bay Rays on April 10, Pineda retired the first 20 batters until giving up a double to
Evan Longoria. Pineda finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed one run in innings as the Yankees won 8–1. On July 14, Pineda was diagnosed with a partial tear of his
ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor strain in his right elbow. He underwent
Tommy John surgery on July 18, ending his season. Prior to the injury, Pineda went 8–4 with a 4.39 ERA. He became a free agent after the season.
Minnesota Twins (2018–2021) On December 13, 2017, Pineda signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the
Minnesota Twins. On February 17, 2018 Pineda was placed on the 60-day disabled list while he recovered from Tommy John surgery. On August 28, manager
Paul Molitor revealed that Pineda would not pitch at all in 2018 due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Pineda began the 2019 season with the Twins, allowing 2 runs in nine innings over his first two starts. On May 28, Pineda was placed on the 10-day
injured list with right knee tendinitis. Pineda pitched to a 11–5 record and a 4.01 ERA, before he received a 60-game suspension without pay for testing positive for
hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic commonly prescribed for blood pressure, on September 7. The suspension had been reduced from 80 to 60 games on appeal, because a compelling case was made that it was not used as a masking agent for a
performance-enhancing drug. Pineda subsequently released a statement that read, in part: "I mistakenly took a medication that was given to me by a close acquaintance, who obtained it over-the-counter and assured me it would safely help me manage my weight. I ingested a few of these pills without the consent of the Twins' training staff. Testing revealed trace elements of a substance called hydrochlorothiazide, which is a banned diuretic under
baseball's testing program." On December 10, 2019, Pineda re-signed with the Twins on a two-year, $20 million contract . On September 1, 2020, Pineda returned from his suspension and led the Twins to a 3–2 victory over the
Chicago White Sox. In five games in 2020, Pineda recorded a 2–0 record and 3.38 ERA with 25 strikeouts in innings pitched. Pineda pitched 22 games (21 starts) in 2021 with a 9–8 record, 3.62 ERA and 88 strikeouts through innings.
Detroit Tigers (2022) On March 19, 2022, Pineda signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the
Detroit Tigers. Pineda fractured his right middle finger on May 15 and was placed on the 15-day injured list. He returned from the injured list on July 1. He left a game on July 23 with pain in his right
triceps and returned to the injured list. The Tigers activated him for a start on September 1, and
designated him for assignment on September 4. Pineda was 2–7 with a 5.79 ERA in 11 games started, pitching innings. He cleared waivers and became a free agent on September 6. ==Scouting profile==